


Winter heaths

by vala411



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alcoholic Tony Stark, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Everyone forgot about Armin Zola, Gen, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Hydra (Marvel), John Walker (New Captain America), M/M, Natasha Has A Heart, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Iron Man 3, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers (Hydra), Stubborn Steve Rogers, Wanda (Hydra)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 34,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26526217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vala411/pseuds/vala411
Summary: Events develop differently after Civil War once a certain Hydra facility was raided.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Wanda Maximoff, Hulk & Loki (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Jane Foster/Thor, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers
Comments: 98
Kudos: 282
Collections: Winteriron all the time





	1. Chapter 1

**Winter heaths**

_Summary: Events develop differently after Civil War once a certain Hydra facility was raided._

**Prologue**

_5 months after Civil war, somewhere over the Amazonian rainforest_

“Everyone look sharp. We’ll be coming up on our target soon,” Steve said as everyone geared up. They were stuffed in a Quinjet that was smaller than what the Avengers had used and Bucky wasn’t really enjoying the close proximity of everyone. The Widow sat next to him as she ran through her equipment for a final check and across from him sat Wilson and Lang. The Witch sat beside Natashia and Bucky tried to keep his distance as her powers set him on edge for unknown reasons. The archer was piloting while Steve stood up from the co-pilot seat. Bucky looked down. He had already had his equipment ready which included but was not limited to a sniper rifle he’d picked up, several knives on his person, and three handguns. It surprised him how fast he could still get his stuff together even though he only had use of one arm. The metal limb had been painfully shot off in Siberia and though he missed the use of two hands he felt it had been warranted.

“So you never said, how did you get this intel?” Bucky asked with a frown as he turned to Steve. His memories were still fuzzy and trying to liken this version of Steve to the scrawny spitfire he had seen in memory fragments was hard to swallow. A faint conversation floated up in his memory. “What happened to you?” He remembered himself asking. “I joined the army,” Was Steve’s answer as the memory cut off there though Bucky could detect a hint of playfulness in Steve's tone then.

“So?” Bucky asked again. He had seen the data that had been available online due to Steve and Natasha’s data dump some years prior and frowned as the facility wasn’t on it. Not just that but he was also rather miffed at their actions during that time. All he saw was incompetence and sheer recklessness but also the fact that neither Steve nor Natashia seemed fazed by the consequences of their actions when he had asked. Sure he might have been a Hydra puppet at the time, trying to work out jumbled memories, but if even he noticed the trouble their actions caused then it spoke volumes. Captain America was supposed to be a master strategist. To Bucky he just acted like a dunce. These thoughts were screaming inside of Bucky’s mind though he said none of this. He learned long ago it was better to just comply with the one in charge.

“From a reliable source Buck,” Steve’s answer was evasive which caused Bucky to frown. His instincts as the Soldier screamed at him in the back of his mind to be careful, but he didn’t say anything since Steve tended to frown and give him that worried look whenever he mentioned the Winter Soldier. Bucky might have been a popsicle for most of history, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t know where most of the bases were. People forgot that he could still listen to them talk even if he had been just a puppet. Though if he had said anything another mindwipe was ordered because he didn’t act like their perfect pet. They had grown comfortable around him and thus hadn’t even been discreet about some things. Memories tended to come back the longer he was away from the Chair but he had trouble placing some of them in the correct time frame. He knew for certain though that this base was never mentioned. Not a single peep. If it were of such strategic importance, he’d have at least heard of it.

The Quinjet landed in an open area out of the detection radius of the supposed base. As the team descended the ramp he noticed the Witch whisper something to Steve who then turned to Bucky and said: “Maybe you should wait this out?”

“You’re benching me?” Bucky blinked confused.

“Wanda brought up a valid point just now,” Steve said. “She’s afraid you may get triggered. This seems to be an active base and if anyone knows the ‘words’.....”

Bucky frowned as Steve hesitated for a moment “Also your… uhm….” He then gestured to Bucky only having one arm. Was Steve actually trying to say that he couldn’t hold his own with one arm? That didn’t make any sense in Bucky’s head. They’d been too active bases before. He fought one handed before too. Steve knew this. Sure the codewords might still be a problem but they weren’t on the last few active bases they raided. He frowned as he then glanced at the Witch but her expression remained one of concern though instincts nagged at him telling him it was fake. “Fine, I’ll guard the jet then,” Bucky said as he gestured to his rifle. He wasn’t happy about it and he’d tell Steve so later once they were out of enemy territory. “But I’m coming in if you guys get into trouble.”

Steve nodded and the team set off through the dense foliage, with the archer complaining that a bug nearly flew into his ear, while Bucky stayed near the Quinjet’s vicinity. “So, it’s just you and I,” he said to no one in particular once the others were gone. Bucky frowned when he got no answer back but he knew there was something there. “You can stop hiding, you know. I saw your code when the jet started up. The others didn’t notice though. I don’t know your name but so far you haven’t had us crash into a mountain.”

“I didn’t expect you to be so observant Sergeant Barnes,” a female voice with a Welsh lilt answered from the jet’s speakers. “You may call me FRIDAY. I work under Sir.”

“Sir? You mean Dr. Stark?” Bucky frowned. “You’re the AI I’ve heard the others talk about. And please you can call me either Bucky or James, Miss Friday.” Bucky was polite even if this Friday was digital. He’d actually read Dr. Stark’s publications on AI’s years ago while on a mission years ago though he could only remember enough of it to understand that these programs were constantly evolving.

“You’re the first person to address Sir by his proper title and you flatter me, Sergeant.” Friday sounded quite pleased if Bucky read her tone of voice right. “None of the Rogues were ever as polite as you so if you want to I’ll call you James though I might need a favor.”

“A favor?” Bucky frowned. “I’m not helping you kill anyone. I try not to do that anymore.”

“Don’t worry James,” Friday sounded amused. “I don’t plan on going full Skynet,” This statement however was lost on Bucky and he ended up asking “What is Skynet?”

“Right….. You’re not caught up with pop culture,” Friday sounded both exasperated and intrigued. She however continued with her previous request before the quip. “I just need a tiny favor. I need you to not tell the others that I’m lurking about in these systems.”

“Dr. Stark doesn’t know you’re doing this does he?” Bucky asked with a frown.

“Sir would probably admonish me for even going this far to monitor the Rogues and I really don’t want to aggravate his current state.”

“Current state?” Bucky frowned. “What do you mean by his current state?”

“You don’t know?!” Friday sounded confused, conflicted and slightly agitated. “Sir has been….. Greatly affected by what happened in Siberia. He’s……… undergoing a medical treatment right now that I can’t divulge.”

“M-Medical treatment?!” Bucky’s eyes widened. “Steve just said he’d disabled his suit. You mean we hurt the guy more than that?!”

“You didn’t know….” It was a statement rather than a question and he could basically hear Friday frown. Bucky had been disoriented and nearly knocked out during the last part of the fight that he had just taken Steve’s word for it as he was dragged out of the bunker. If Stark’s injuries had been much more serious than Steve let on then he’d have insisted they take him with them.

“Him lashing out was perfectly justified,” James quickly said to the AI. “I’d have honestly expected no less from someone suddenly confronted with their parents’ murderer and I honestly thought he knew. Steve was his friend so he must have told him I reasoned. He came to support us after all.”

“But the Boss didn’t know,” Friday sounded disgruntled.

“I realized that when Steve admitted lying to him.” Bucky replied. “Honestly, I would have let him kill me if it gave him closure.”

“But you fought instead,” Friday’s tone was slightly accusatory.

“Steve was fighting, I helped. Then I was ordered to flee. I was……. Hesitant,” He admitted. “But it’s easier to comply,”

“Comply?” Now Friday was confused.

“Complying means less pain,” Bucky said in a low voice and something in Friday must have realized that there was more to the story than even her creator knew.

Explosions cut their conversation short as the comms fizzled to life. There was shouting and cursing and it sounded like there were attempts at jamming their comm signals. Friday had stayed silent for a long moment as James found a tree to perch on and ready his rifle. If any hostile came this way he would dispatch them. The sound of fighting and explosions were constant but there wasn’t a call for backup so James stayed put. “May we continue our conversation later?” Friday asked through his communicator, having probably hacked it.

“Yeah,” James said and then added “And I won’t tell the others you’re here.”

“That is much appreciated,”

Bucky thought he was ready for anything, he really did. Nothing, however, would have prepared him for the end of the day when he had a dead Hydra handler on the ground, a crying infant on his lap, trying to rock the baby with one hand, and another five or six year-old child clinging to his leg while trying to stop their hiccups. That was how Steve and the others found him. It made for an odd sight and it turned even odder when the kid clutching his leg nearly screamed bloody murder at Captain America as he tried to step closer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

“Sir….”

“Sir….” Friday called again but her creator lay slumped and drooling on a keyboard she had to deactivate lest it caused errors within the coding software he had been using.

“BOSS!!!” Friday tried again and this time Tony jerked awake and nearly fell off his chair, the IV that was attached to him caused a painful grimace to appear on his face.

“Fri baby, I told you not to disturb me,” Tony grumbled as he took the IV out, the bag it was attached to was already empty.

“But boss. You have a visitor in the living room,” The AI responded.

“I thought I had the Blackout protocol in place,” Tony frowned. “Friday why did you let them in?”

“I didn’t,” She told him and this caused Tony to freeze before he quickly summoned one of the suits.

“Then how did they get in?” Tony asked as he stomped his way up from the workshop.

“I don’t know, boss. One moment they were just…. There,” Friday sounded confused and Friday was never confused. Tony didn’t like what this reeked of.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Tony exclaimed once he walked into his living room, still in the armour. He raised his gauntlet at Loki who was merely standing in the middle of the room. The Trickster appeared to be cleaning his nails before he looked up to see Tony.

“Ah there you are,” Loki said with some disinterest. “I asked the lady in your ceiling to fetch you. She is rather prompt.”

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked while not lowering the repulsor.

“I’m not here exactly. This is just a long-distance call,” Loki stated. “Now that that is established I have both good news and bad news to bring.”

Tony took a gamble and reached for a small crystal vase on a side table and chucked it at Loki. It went right through him and the trickster merely rolled his eyes. “I already told you I’m not here,” the man repeated.

“Alright Rock of Ages. I’m listening,” Tony said, finally stepping out of the armour and setting it to sentry mode. Loki was still for a moment and then he actually turned to his left and talked to…….. Thin air.

“Thor, No!” The sorcerer muttered. “I will not…. No!” Tony watched him arguing with the empty space but he supposed he might be talking to his brother on the other side of this connection. “Thor! I am already doing what you asked! This is a complex spell! Do you know how much magic it takes to send an apparition from halfway across the galaxy… what….. No….. Thor….. Fine! If it makes you shut up.”

Loki turned back to Tony and grumbled “My idiotic brother says Greetings man of iron, Bruce sends his hello as well and Brunhilde asks if Earth has quality booze.”

That sounded like Thor alright but Tony didn’t know a Brunhilde and he was shocked to find that Bruce was apparently halfway across the galaxy, in the vicinity of Loki which was shocking enough. So that’s why his calls all went to voicemail.

“So?” Loki asked while crossing his arms.

“So….” Tony muttered.

“Do you want the good news first or the bad news first?”

“Good news?” Tony asked more than stated because really, what news was so good that Thor apparently coerced his brother into placing a magic call from half a galaxy away.

“The Mad Titan has been defeated,” Loki stated casually but Tony’s eyes widened in shock and he thought he might have gone slack-jawed. “Rejoice. Thanos is no more.”

“How?!” Tony near yelled.

“It is a rather long story. Longer than I can keep this call open for. Short version is he was eaten by a Flerken.” Loki stated rather impassionately and Tony couldn’t help but wonder what the hell a Flerken was.

“And the bad news?” Tony then proceeded to ask.

“Oh…” Loki smirked a bit now which caused the billionaire some discomfort. Nothing good came when Loki smirked like that. “Asgard was destroyed and Thor told all the refugees that he’s setting course for Earth. We’ll be there within a month. Tell your governments not to shoot us down. Well then toodles!” Loki said as he cut the connection while Tony sputtered and then shouted “Hey wait! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ASGARD WAS DESTROYED?!”

Even if Tony shouted that question he was met with silence and a now-empty living room. He cursed Loki’s name for just saying all that and not even sticking around a bit longer so he could get more details. Then he cursed Ross’ name because now he had to call the Accords council and fill them in. The General was a thorn in his side, one he really liked to remove, especially with Bruce coming back as well.

“Friday, you know who to dial,” Tony stated as he flopped down on the couch.

“On it boss,” Friday responded.

Meanwhile, on another continent, in a rather humid jungle, things were not going as planned for the team. The infiltration of the base had gone well for the most part until halfway through when one of the Hydra operatives managed to sound the alarms. They had made it into the main room and Steve and the others had been disgusted to find that it was a laboratory set up for human experimentation.

Suddenly there was movement to his right, and thinking it was a Hydra agent Steve sent his shield flying only to see too late that he had aimed it at a child dressed in a hospital gown. The child managed to duck in time but let out a distressed whimper as the shield bounced against the wall above them.

Steve was frozen in shock that he had nearly struck a child. He was so frozen that he missed one of the agents grabbing said child and holding a gun to his head until it was too late.

“Back off or the kid gets it!” The man shouted as he pressed the gun to the struggling boy’s temple. There was a type of storage case slung over his other shoulder Steve noticed as the man and the boy backed out of the room.

“Sam,” Steve whispered over the comms. “We have a hostage situation coming your way.”

Steve frowned when all he received back was static. They must have activated a jamming device. Steve mentally cursed as he told Natasha and Wanda that he was going after the kidnapper. The two women already had control of the rest of the room and Natasha was downloading the database files while Wanda was watching her back. They would be fine, he reasoned as he set off.

On the way out he spotted Sam and Clint in a firefight with several men who were covering for the kidnapper. Luckily the kid seemed unharmed as the man dragged him to one of the transports. Steve threw his shield which clipped one of the vehicle’s wings causing it to become inoperable.

The Hydra agent then shot at him and he had to duck for cover. When he managed to spot them again the man was dragging the kid into the jungle, in the direction of their Quinjet. Steve was following after them with Wanda and Natasha now joining him since they were done. He’d lost the trail of the man in the jungle and cursed until the group heard a single shot ring out in the distance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

James had climbed into a tree not far from the Quinjet. It had a good line of sight of their landing spot and the area leading to the Hydra base. The foliage was thick enough between trees that a person lurking in it wouldn’t be immediately spotted. ‘A natural sniper’s nest,’ He let out a pleased hum as he positioned the rifle he had slung over his shoulders onto a thinner tree branch and waited. The comms were down and he could see faint traces of smoke further away from where the base supposedly was. It was quiet for a while with nothing but the wind fluttering through the leaves and the croaking of some exotic frogs nearby.

There was some rustling of the foliage from the other side and he looked through the scope to check who it was. ‘Probably the others coming back,’ He thought but he was wrong. Coming into the clearing where the jet was parked was a man that seemed out of breath and what was worse he seemed to be dragging a child along with him at gunpoint.

James’ enhanced hearing could pick up what the man was saying and it made him grit his teeth in anger. The kid was whimpering, probably because of the hard grip the man had on his arms and the gun that kept nudging his temple. “Get moving!” He could hear the man order. “A shield is all you’re good for anyways,”

The boy was crying as he was nudged towards the Quinjet and James didn’t delay in taking the shot. It rang out in the otherwise still jungle and the man dropped like a sack of bricks. James quickly jumped down from his perch and made his way to the kid that had fallen backwards onto the grass after the shot.

Young fearful eyes snapped in his direction even as he approached tentatively. The kid had blue eyes and longish brown hair that had been done up in a bun haphazardly. There were tear tracks on his face and James could see several older bruises on his arm and legs as the hospital gown rode up. There was also the matter of missing footwear and bleeding feet.

Soothing kids was not his strong point. The Winter Soldier had not been made to soothe kids, yet here he was crouching down a bit to not seem so threatening as the young boy hiccuped and stared fearfully at him. Then the boy’s gaze went to his missing arm and his mouth opened but nothing came out. The Soldier watched emotions flicker across the kid’s face, panic, fear and then amazement which shouldn’t have belonged there in this situation. In a manner of seconds though James had his lap full with the child as the boy clung to him and cried.

While trying to awkwardly pat the kid on the back James heard something else. It was faint. A high pitched wail that seemed muffled and it was coming from the carrier the Hydra agent had been carrying. James stood up and set the boy on the ground for a moment but the kid wouldn’t let go and clung to his leg as he made his way over to the carrier. He was cautious as it could be anything causing the noise. Pressing the button to open the thing he however was not prepared at what he found.

There in the carrier lay a crying baby securely strapped down. James faltered as he didn’t know what to do. They were still in enemy territory and the baby’s crying could bring Hydra right to him and the other kid. Gingerly he shrugged his rifle off his shoulder and placed one of his handguns in arms-reach, before loosening the straps and cradling the baby. It was awkward as he didn’t exactly know how to hold a baby but the crying needed to stop. That was basically how Steve and the others found him, trying to shush a baby rather awkwardly while another child clung to his pant leg.

James had the baby against the crook of his arm and a gun aimed at the group until he noticed that it was Steve and the others. Steve stepped forward but that started a whole chain reaction. The kid who had been clinging to him let out an ear-splitting cry as he saw Captain America approach and that yell woke the infant up that he had just barely stopped from crying. There was noise everywhere and Bucky cringed. All the while Steve was trying to inch closer which wasn’t helping.

“Steve stay back,” James warned. “This kid doesn’t seem to like you,” That seemed to get the message across as Steve froze in place. Luckily Natasha approached and she crouched down to take the baby while James picked up the kid that now was clutching against his tactical gear and whimpering.

The boarding of the jet was stilted and awkward and when everyone was seated the Soldier picked up the first aid kit to attend to the child’s bleeding feet and other injuries. The Widow was currently rocking the baby while singing some Russian lullaby and James had to give her props. There is no way he could have gotten the kid so calm.

Lang asked if he could help with the first aid but one look at the kid withdrawing from him had him back in his seat. Bucky was curious though as to what had drawn the kid to cling to him. He was a bigger threat than Lang and probably even Steve. Speaking of Steve, he was being a stubborn ass and tried to approach again, this time with a much friendlier face but the kid wasn’t buying it. Captain America was growled at and almost bitten on his hand before he sulked back into the co-pilot seat as the archer took off.

“So what now?” Sam asked as he looked at the others in the overcrowded jet. Wanda was squeezed into a nook as Natasha sat next to here cradling the now sleeping infant. Bucky and the child had traded places with Lang as there was much more room on that side next to Sam. The kid was finally asleep, bandaged and curled up in one of the emergency blankets. All nice and warm and leaning against James without a care in the world.

“Now we stop for a milk run and get other supplies for these two,” James said as if it was obvious.

“Buck we can’t,” Steve however interjected only to be shot a glare from the Widow as well.

“Yes we can Steve,” Natasha stated. “We can’t just drop them off at an orphanage or the authorities.”

“But…” Steve tried again.

“They were in a Hydra base,” Natasha deadpanned. “Which means they were experimented on. Until we find out what was done to them they aren’t going anywhere.”

“We could contact Fury,” Steve suggested. “He’s starting up SHIELD again.

“Suuuure, contact a spy of a shadowy organization. These kids will just go from one lab to another. Great idea Steve, traumatize them more,” Bucky’s sarcasm stung. “You and I both know how it will end for these kids if they are handed over to the government. The kids stay.”

“We got the files from the base,” Wanda muttered, still not too happy about being shoved in the corner. “It shouldn’t take long to find out about them.”

James glared at her from his seat across. Sure she was agreeing with him and Nat now though he could still feel a prickle of anxiety on his skin. He wouldn’t easily trust her as she gave him a bad vibe and over the years that he had been defrosted for missions he had learned to trust his instincts. People that gave him bad vibes usually ended up dead or being a thorn in his side.

“So… uhm… which one of us is going to buy the stuff?” Lang asked after the silence had gotten stifling.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

In the end it was Natasha and Lang who would do the shopping, mainly because they seemed the most unthreatening, especially since Natasha insisted on taking the baby with them as a cover, telling the group that people would be more sympathetic to someone with a child than if they had to buy all the stuff alone. James scoffed; Natasha nonthreatening. Lang could pass muster but the Widow probably had more knives on her than him at the moment.

Like a true Master Spy the Widow already had a cover story thought up and was briefing Lang on it while they were landing near the safehouse. It was more of a log cabin in the woods, abandoned because it probably wasn’t hunting season yet or summer vacation hadn’t started. The cabin had enough rooms and all the necessities they needed though and as James walked down the ramp with a slightly groggy child he was mentally categorizing areas of the house that needed to be child-proofed just in case. Then he shook his head at the thought that had popped into his head and cursed in Russian which earned him a not so pleased look from Steve. It wasn’t as if Steve understood Russian, no, it was just that he hated James speaking it. It was one of the points James and Steve had argued about on countless nights and frankly the Soldier in him wanted to just chuck Steve out a window or jam him in the chimney.

James looked down at the boy who still had the blanket wrapped around him. The boy held his hand with ease and seemed most comfortable around him. Sam seemed to be second as the man had quickly made sure he looked as non-threatening as possible when the boy had woken up occasionally during their flight. Another odd thing was that the boy hadn’t spoken a word since they got on the jet. There were little noises and often he could see the kid’s mouth opening but no sound came out. It was weird James reasoned. Kids were often talkative and this was not normal behaviour.

The lights were turned on once they walked into the cabin and James pointed at a seat which the kid immediately took. It was so unnerving in James’ mind. The kid was sitting as still as a rock and following orders. He also seemed wary of the others that filed in and deposited their gear. James did the same, momentarily having to look away so that he could at least set his rifle down and place the grenades where no one would accidentally pull the pin. Thinking about it now he might actually child-proof the entire cabin if the children were going to be staying a while. When he turned back the child hadn’t moved an inch. He didn’t even seem to fidget. A pained look crossed James’ face as he finally recognised why the child’s actions were so unnerving. The kid had been through Hydra conditioning. If disobeyed only pain would follow.

“Hey man, thought you might need this,” Sam approached and handed James a first aid kit. He realized it was so he could look over the kid’s other injuries. “I’ll go start dinner. I’m sure the little guy is hungry.” James appreciated the gesture and nodded. Sam didn’t seem like a bad guy. His instincts didn’t flare up near him when they recognized danger like they did with the Widow, though that may have been because he had fragmented memories of training the Widows in the Red Room. He knew what they were capable of.

Meanwhile, Natashia and Lang emerged from one of the rooms, having discarded their tactical gear and suit and instead having donned something that screamed ‘suburban’. James didn’t know exactly how it screamed suburban but he imagined them behind a nice house and a white picket fence when they were wearing those clothes. It was….. Surreal.

Natasha’s eyes met James and somehow he could feel just how pleased she was with having been able to pull the look off. The duo left with the baby in tow and James turned to the boy who still hadn’t moved an inch. He crouched down and took one of the little bandaged feet into his hand. This caused blue eyes to focus on him and while he unwrapped the bandages he asked “You understand english, right?”

The boy nodded. “But you aren’t speaking it,” James stated more than asked and then he tried a different tactic. It might just be that the boy spoke an entirely different language even though he could understand english.

“а ты говоришь по русски?” James tried. “Română? Deutsche?” he then asked hoping to see a reaction but there was nothing. The kid didn’t seem to recognize the languages.

“Bucky could you maybe stop?” Steve asked from where he was placing plates on the table. James turned to him with a grimace. He was frankly tired of reminding Steve that he preferred to be called James now since he didn’t even remotely feel like Bucky but it would fall on deaf ears again.

“Stop what Steve?” James questioned. “You seem to have it out for me when I speak other languages. If it makes you that uncomfortable then you should just shut your ears and look the other way,”

“The Bucky I knew didn’t speak other languages,” Steve said while looking rather put out.

“The Bucky you knew has been dead for a long time Steve. How many times must I say I’m not him.” James growled. “Look, can we not argue in front of the kid?” he then asked and turned back to the now unbandaged feet only to frown and utter “What the hell?!”

“What?” it was the archer who responded and then looked over from where he had been seated.

“They’re healed.” James blinked as he looked at the child’s feet. “That…… shouldn’t be possible.”

Clint stood up as did the others to come take a look but a glare from James had them keeping their distance. “Rapid healing huh?” Clint observed. “It couldn’t be….”

“What?” James asked with a frown.

“It’s just a theory. I’m gonna need to see the files we got from the base later.” The archer stated. “It’s just you and Steve have the serum which gives enhanced healing. They may have tried to experiment with it again.”

“I hope not,” James growled as a flashback of Zola’s experimentation on himself at the prison camp caused him to shudder. Other unpleasant memories started to bubble up and he suggested he’d get the kid cleaned up. It was a welcome distraction. He knew Clint meant well but some sentences just brought back too many memories.

Once in the bathroom he started filling the tub while trying to keep conversation flowing with the child even if it was one-sided. He took off the blanket and started on the hospital gown when he noticed something high up on the kid’s shoulder. Disgust marred James’ face as he took in the tattooed number. A thick black tattoo with block letters saying 53 were etched into the boy’s skin. His disgust for Hydra grew more and more each minute. The boy didn’t move as he was divested of the clothes and it was another sad reminder at the conditioning. _‘Obey, Compliance,’_ James knew these well enough. He hadn’t lied to Friday when he told her that obeying brought on less pain because there was always pain involved even if you were good.

The tub had been filled with lukewarm water and James had even added a rubber duck he had found in the cabinet to the tub hoping that the boy would be at ease. This however wasn’t the case as the child started crying the moment James urged him into the bath. The kid clung to his clothes as if the water would hurt him like a feral beast and belatedly James realized that that might just be the case. Hydra had tormented the kid to such a degree that he was afraid of a bath. Like a good little soldier he had followed until he couldn’t follow anymore and broke down James realized. Seated on the hard tile floor he patted the kid’s back a little uneasily. He was not used to giving comfort and it showed. When the kid had calmed down somewhat he decided that he would just use a wet towel to clean him up. After all there wasn’t that much mud on him James reasoned.

As James was wiping away mud and grime he belatedly realized that they would need to find names for the children. Maybe even their families, if they had any and possibly a really really good therapist. When James was done Sam was knocking on the bathroom door and telling him Nat and Lang had returned and dinner was ready. He bundled the boy up in a nice and large fluffy towel which actually earned him a little smile though it was gone in a second. He made a mental note, fluffy things made children happy.

**AN: WARNING: NEXT CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC SCENES AS THEY WILL BE DELVING INTO THE HYDRA FILES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED IN ADVANCE.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

Outside the door James had found kids’ clothing neatly folded. Sam must have gotten it for him from Natasha. It was a plain white T-shirt, some underwear and comfy sweatpants. James handed these to the boy and told him to put them on. In no time was the boy dressed and the duo headed back to the kitchen that was now filled with a pleasant aroma.

Steve had taken over cooking what James believed to be stew while Sam and Wanda were setting the table. Lang and Clint were also hovering near the stove, this time Clint was rocking the baby while James noted Lang pulled a bottle of milk out of a small pot of hot water. “Test that on your skin first,” Clint warned before going back to cooing at the baby.

“Yes yes I know,” Lang said. “I used to feed Cassie a lot,”

Natasha was busy unpacking their purchases and she handed James several stacks of clothes that would fit a six year old easily along with a stuffed bear. The bear was a dark blue, same as the kid’s eyes and had a cute white ribbon around its neck.

“Here you go,” James held the bear out to the boy but it wasn’t taken. Instead he was met with a suspicious gaze this time. That was new, so far the boy had been quite taken with James. “It’s yours,” James tried again while coaxing the bear a bit more towards the boy. Hesitantly small hands reached out for it while eyes stayed glued on James as if he would yank the toy back.

Once the toy was being inspected by the boy James quickly headed upstairs to place the clothes away. There was an empty guest room with bunk beds next to the room James slept in so he figured the kid could sleep there. Steve and Natasha used the master bedroom at the end of the hall. James shared his room with Sam while Clint shared one with Lang. Wanda slept in a separate room that was opposite to Clint’s.

When James came back down he saw that the others were already seated as Steve was filling bowls with stew. The boy was seated next to Sam at the end of the table so he took one of the last two chairs that were left open opposite from them. Wide blue eyes stared at the soup bowls that Steve had placed in front of them. James noted the boy looking around at the others as they offered their thanks for the meal before they started eating.

Steve sat down next to James, offering him some of the bread rolls. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the child hesitantly grab a spoon and take a sip of the stew. Eyes widened when it appeared to be tasty and then much to everyone’s surprise the boy nearly inhaled the contents of the bowl.

James was about to say something as he knew the kid would get sick if he ate too quickly but Steve beat him to it and proved once again that Captain America could be a complete idiot and ass. Just as James opened his mouth to ask the kid to slow down Steve actually reached over the table and yanked the bowl away causing everyone to stop eating and stare.

The kid flinched and froze, eyes wide in Steve’s direction as if the man was going to hit him and James quickly stood up and smacked Steve on the back of his head. “What the hell punk?!” James questioned as his eyes narrowed.

“He was going to get sick!” Steve defended.

“That still doesn’t give you the right to yank his food away! Damnit!” James growled as he proceeded to slap Steve upside the head again. “You just don’t do that to kids that have been abused!”

No one said anything as James lay into Steve. The Soldier stopped abruptly though and then turned towards the boy who was sitting stock still. He carefully pushed the bowl of stew back to the boy but the child didn’t start eating again. Instead blue eyes now looked at the food as if it would be taken away again like it was a cruel joke.

Seeing the young boy hesitant to eat at all now finally caused Steve to see that what he had done had been wrong and he carefully crouched down next to the child and tried to offer his apologies. Though what the boy did next surprised everyone at the table. They all noticed it too late but Steve was sent falling backwards while clutching his cheek. Meanwhile the boy was heaving heavily as if something finally snapped. The others noticed that the child was glowing orange steadily and emitting a huge amount of heat. The force to knock Steve on his ass would have been significant and not something a baseline human could easily do. For the first time the Rogues saw what Hydra’s experimentation had done.

The child let out a distressed whimper as the glow faded and James stepped around Steve to check upon him. He didn’t even notice Natasha gape and drop her spoon with a clang against the bowl. She was watching the child and whispered but one word. “Extremis,”

Dinner afterwards had been awkward and stilted. Steve watched as James took the child upstairs while asking one of the others to bring up their bowls as well. When he finally came back down it was with two empty bowls and a declaration that the boy was now asleep. Steve sighed as James was purposely ignoring him and he guessed that he deserved it. He had acted rather rashly. It didn’t help that the others had also read him the riot act after the two had left the table.

“What is Extremis?” James asked the Widow who was sitting on the couch while slowly rocking the baby.

“It’s a form of genetic manipulation using nanobots. Rapid healing of deformities and severed limbs but it was unstable. It was designed by AIM years ago under the supervision of Aldrich Killian. The serum was proven too volatile to use and SHIELD destroyed all research of it. For hydra to get its hands on it is…. Bad,” Natasha grimaced.

“How bad are we talking?” James was afraid to ask but he had to know.

“If the test subjects rejected Extremis their bodies exploded,” Natasha explained while looking sadly at the baby.

“So what you’re saying is that we took two bombs home with us?!” Wanda questioned as her eyes narrowed and her hands shed some red tendrils.

“Kids, we took two kids home with us!” James retorted. “Either way we don’t know if it is actually unstable in them yet.”

“We could check the files we stole,” Sam suggested. “But with the amount it would take a while.”

“I think I can narrow it down. Look for anything to do with the number 53.” James stated.

The Rogues were uneasy as Clint loaded the data up on a laptop they had acquired. There was some waiting as everything loaded up but they easily found files in a folder labeled ‘Subject 53’. There were several reports and even scanned hand-written observations. There were also some video files labeled only with numbers in the folder and once Clint pressed play on one of them James’ hand nearly crushed the armrest of the chair he had been leaning on while Natasha actually had to back away and find the trash bin to hurl in. The others all looked between various stages of queasiness, disgust and pure horror. Anything that could make a seasoned spy like Natasha vomit screamed BAD BAD BAD.

Clint quickly turned the video off and even he had to take a few minutes to compose himself. Minutes passed and no one said anything.

“They…. They.. they… oh my god!” Sam exclaimed finally while Lang looked like he also might be sick.

“That’s…..” Steve whispered but couldn’t articulate.

“It’s Hydra but that…… How could they……” Natasha muttered as she tried to compose herself.

“It explains why the kid’s wary around us,” Clint said. “To test Extremis they…..”

“Don’t you dare say it!” Natasha growled.

James sat still as he tried to process what he had seen. It was horrible and now he knew exactly why the kid was afraid to talk. He also now knew why the kid clung to him more than the others. The child thought he saw someone who had gone through the same pain as him and he had latched on. Those Hydra bastards had actually taken the kid’s limbs and watched how quickly they regrew. It was sickening. So disgusting that James wanted to go back to that base and let the Soldier have a piece of them all.

“Guys….” The archer called as he looked through one of the documents that looked to be a dossier. James read the profile as did the others. Some things popped out like the terms ‘failed experiment’ ‘unstable’ ‘slated for incineration’. Though none of these was what the archer was pointing at. Looking closer he saw from who Hydra had gotten the DNA from. There, neatly printed out and listed as the father of the boy and probably the baby girl as well, was none other than Tony Stark.

“FUCK!” James cursed aloud and this time no one warned him to watch his language.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

“Stark?!” Wanda hissed upon reading the name and James unconsciously stepped back a bit as her power manifested briefly through erratic red tendrils of magic. The red mist caused him to unconsciously shiver as memories of his time in Hydra’s clutches resurfaced. An alarm had gone off in his mind and his instincts took over, grabbing the witch by the throat and squeezing.

“Bucky!” Steve shouted in shock at his best friend’s actions and he and the others immediately tried to get him to let Wanda go. The witch was turning blue when James finally did let go. She sputtered and coughed while hunching down, taking deep breaths while the others rounded on James.

“The hell was that?” Sam asked as his eyes narrowed.

“Her magic,” James muttered as he flushed slightly, ashamed of having lost control. “It feels revolting. The images….” he admitted as he watched the archer check if Wanda was alright. Steve seemed to have that disapproving glare aimed at James and he could already feel a lecture coming on. Of course a lecture was coming, he damaged Steve’s little pet. That was all he could think of her as. Everywhere Steve went she would be there too. His memories were still somewhat fragmented, but being not cryogenically frozen for months was bringing them back bit by bit. In more than one of the hazy memories, he noticed Bucky Barnes following Steve just like Wanda was. But that Steve was smaller in some memories and bigger in others, that Bucky was also a lot more confident than he felt right now. It was confusing. The Soldier in him wondered if Bucky had blindly followed or had questioned any of Steve’s decisions at times. It was all so jumbled and when he looked back up he realized that Steve was talking and that he hadn’t heard a word of it, though Steve didn’t seem to notice that. There was a lot about James that Steve didn’t notice anymore.

“...... and she can’t really control her powers Buck,” James caught the tail end of the lecture and James frowned. Normally he would have just let Steve rant just so he could have some peace and quiet after but this time he just couldn’t help but point out the glaring error in that statement. “If she can’t control her powers then why was she even an Avenger?” James questioned which caused Steve’s and Wanda’s eyes to widen. “Aren’t you guys supposed to have human lives in your hands?” He wanted to continue questioning Steve but Natasha stepped in between them at that moment.

“Guys,” The Widow called out. “We really need to focus on the here and now. This discussion can be tabled for later. The more pressing concern is the kids. What do we do with them now?”

“What do you mean?” James questioned. “Of course we contact Stark and tell him,” The guy had a right to know. After everything that had happened, especially in Siberia, he wasn’t about to keep the truth from him.

“If you haven’t noticed man, we can’t exactly walk through the front doors of Stark Tower.” Sam chimed in.

“We don’t need to,” James replied. “Steve told me he had a direct line to him.” James hadn’t agreed to Steve sending the flip phone and note, especially with the note being as insensitive as it was, that had been another argument of theirs, he was now grateful to be able to just call up the man and explain the situation. Though James’ hopes were dashed with just one word from Steve.

“No,”

“What do you mean by no, punk?!” Brooklyn and Russian accent intermingled as James was growing frustrated. “This is exactly why you sent him the phone isn’t it? For emergencies?!”

“For the end of the world emergencies,” Steve replied. “This is not that important.”

James gaped and he probably wasn’t the only one who found that statement to be utterly ridiculous. It was Lang however that spoke up with “Dude, are you serious? They’re his kids. He has the right to know they even exist!” The Soldier in James had grumbled that Lang had joined their little band without knowing the full details but there was some grudging respect there as he tried to do what was best for the kids. James pondered if he should actually call him by his first name now but that might just give the man a heart attack.

“They’re dangerous and unstable,” Steve reasoned. “Do you guys really think that we should let Stark near them after what happened with Ultron? The man needs to be watched!”

“They’re kids Steve!” James growled. “They have the right to know their father and Stark may be able to help them!”

“I’m going to agree with James here,” Natasha stated as all eyes landed on her. “He’s right, Tony might have a way to help these kids.” She didn’t elaborate though she seemed very certain of it. Clint who had checked up on Wanda noticed it immediately. If Natasha was sure about something then he’d back her up.

“Maybe we should give the guy a chance,” Clint spoke up. “I mean we can’t keep hanging the blame of Ultron over him. I’ve seen the relief efforts he had going in Sokovia.”

“That doesn’t make him any less guilty,” Wanda nearly snarled. “I’ve seen the destruction a Stark can bring. These… These kids will end up just like that. I say we wash our hands of them!” The witch glowered at James before stomping off somewhere.

“The answer is still no, Bucky,” Steve stated as he crossed his arms. “I’m not letting Tony anywhere near something as dangerous as Extremis.” With that said Steve trudged upstairs in what seemed to be a huff.

“Man….” Sam frowned as he watched his friend go.

“You hold her,” Natasha said as she handed the baby off to Lang. She then turned to James and muttered “I’ll talk to him. I’m all for your plan but if I can’t convince him….” James nodded and then muttered that he was going for a walk to blow off some steam. That left Lang and Sam holding a baby and looking awkwardly at the now empty living room.

James’ walk took him near the Quinjet and he made up his mind then and there. He looked around first to check if no one had followed him before lowering the ramp and entering the jet. In the cockpit he started up the basic systems and hoped that he was right and she was still there. “Miss Friday?” James asked tentatively once the computers had booted up. “You there?”

“Yes James I am,” The accented voice answered though it added “I didn’t believe you would initiate contact.”

“I didn’t think I would either,” James confessed. “Though I have to since I need to speak to Dr. Stark.”

“I’m afraid that that is impossible,” Friday confessed. “Sir,...... Sir is still recovering and processing what happened in Siberia. He is not in a good place right now, and with some recent revelations added……”

“I understand Friday but this is rather important. Dr. Stark deserves to know.” James uttered.

“Like he deserved to know in Siberia?” The AI questioned. There seemed to be a moment of anger in there and really, James couldn’t blame her. “Sir, has enacted Blackout protocol. No one gets to see him.”

“Even if the wellbeing of two children is at stake?” James questioned. “Look can you just ask? Ask anyone. I might need some help here because it looks like Steve’s going to be an ass again. Stark doesn’t deserve that, the kids don’t deserve that, and he may be the only one that can help them.”

“I will….. Check.” Friday finally relented. “Though sir may mute me if your name is mentioned. Do you have a phone?”

“Huh?” James blinked but produced a burner phone he had on him just in case. Steve didn’t know he had it and James liked it that way. He loved technology and he may or may not have been addicted to Flappy Bird. Steve, James would admit, was a prude about tech. The man couldn’t operate a touchscreen on a phone or tablet and when James had offered to teach him some stuff he was met with an incredulous look. It seemed like Steve had expected James to agree with him that tech was way too advanced for him. James was now neither the Soldier nor Bucky Barnes but technology seemed to fascinate both so it did fascinate him as well.

Friday instructed James to plug the phone in so she could connect to it and then all was silent. James assumed that when Friday had an answer she would tell him via phone. It beats sneaking into the jet afterall.

Meanwhile, Natasha had followed Steve to the room they shared. She closed the door after herself and then declared “Steve you were an ass,”

“Nat I….” Steve started but Natasha’s glare stopped him in his tracks.

“I don’t care what you thought. You were an ass.” The Widow stated.

“Bucky was being unreasonable,” Steve tried to argue.

“No James was being smart,” Natasha countered. “Those children have very likely been through hell. They deserve to know that they have family and Tony is also the one who can most likely help them!”

“Extremis is dangerous. Stark….” Steve started a rant but Nat’s eyes pinned him down with the cold hard truth.

“Stark is the only one that can neutralize an unstable Extremis compound. Steve did you even read the full dossier SHIELD had on Tony?” She questioned.

“Well no…” The Captain admitted sheepishly.

“Then you don’t know that it was Ironman that defeated Killian and managed to save the lives of those affected by Extremis, which included his then-girlfriend Miss Potts.” Natasha uttered and she could see the surprise on Steve’s face. “Tony’s the foremost expert on Extremis now and James was right to suggest we contact him, even though he doesn’t know the whole story. If anyone can find a way to help those kids it’s Tony. Steve, I like you but you were a total ass back there and I’m not afraid to say it.”

“And how do you know the whole story Nat?” Steve raised a brow.

With a sigh Natasha confessed “After SHIELD put a lockdown on the Extremis research I smuggled out a copy of the data to Tony so he could help Pepper as her body had started to reject it much sooner than predicted.”

“You double-crossed SHIELD,” Steve raised a brow.

“No, I helped a friend.” Natasha stated and then walked back out the room. She turned around in the doorway and threw back “Maybe you should think about helping a friend as well instead of blaming them.”

After Natasha left Steve had been mulling over his decisions. He didn’t hear the door open and close but when he looked up he saw Wanda standing there.

“Wanda?” Steve asked with a frown as she had seemed pretty mad when she left the living room. “You alright?”

“I will be,” Wanda said as she walked closer and sat on the bed next to Steve. “Though you seem to be having it rough too,” She then observed.

“It’s just….. The current situation…..” Steve mumbled as Wanda leaned closer.

“But what is it that is really bothering you?” She asked as tendrils or red unknowingly started to envelop Steve.

“It’s…… It’s…….” Steve hesitated but Wanda pressed on with the statement “You can tell me. You can tell me everything. What is really bothering you? What can’t you let go?”

“It’s….. Bucky,” Steve confessed as the tendrils wound around him. “Bucky isn’t being…. Bucky. He’s…… different….”

“It’s the Soldier you know,” Wanda said. “The Soldier is still inside of him. It’s influencing him,” She prodded. “He would have never questioned you if not for the Soldier.”

Steve made a distressed whimper as Wanda smirked and worked her magic before asking “What do you want?”

“I just want my best friend back…..” Steve confessed while looking utterly broken. Wanda merely smirked as she kept whispering in the Captain’s ear.

“You can have him back you know,” She said and her voice sounded innocent. A voice of logic and reason. Steve was captivated.

“How?” Was the only thing Steve asked.

“You get rid of the Soldier.” Wanda stated. “I could do it but,...... I can’t get close. You could do it though. All you need is the words.”

“Words?” Steve questioned through the haze. He may not have even been thinking straight as Wanda’s voice flitted through his thoughts.

“Yes, the words. Once spoken order the Soldier to self terminate. All that will be left will be your friend.” Wanda smirked.

“What are these words?” Steve questioned.

"Желание, Ржавый, Семнадцать, Рассвет, Печь, Девять, Добросердечный, Возвращение на родину, Один, Товарный вагон. Солдат?" Wanda whispered the Russian words to Steve as she put him to sleep. He wouldn’t remember this encounter but the thought would be there. She smirked at the thought of the Soldier being gone. He had too much influence. She hadn’t lied either. When Steve was done all that would remain was the body of Bucky Barnes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

“You look like you got trampled by a legion of Dark Elves,” A voice said suddenly from the living room Tony had been sure he had been alone in.

“Don’t do that!” Tony near screamed in shock as he clutched the place his arc reactor used to be housed. He glared at Loki who had materialised once again in his living room before chucking one of the empty alcohol bottles at him. As expected the bottle went right through the trickster and shattered into pieces on the floor.

“Is that your way of saying I look like hell, Reindeer Games? Because let me tell you I can look whatever way I please.” Tony got defensive as he glared at Loki’s apparition. “Why are you even here? Don’t you have some other poor sod to scare the living daylights out of?”

“Regrettably no.” Loki sighed. “Thor’s drunk with Valkyrie and moaning about missing his Lady Jane. I am kind of sad she dumped him. I liked her.”

Tony while being drunk still had excellent reasoning skills so the engineer raised a brow at Loki’s comment while he lay plastered against the couch with several empty bottles around him. “Let me get this straight. You approved of your brother’s girlfriend?!” He thought the brothers were at odds about everything, well most things, so this was a surprise.

“She challenged Odin when he called her a goat and she had the courage to slap me,” Loki too raised a brow. “I’m guessing it is what you Midgardians call having balls.”

“Right,” Tony sighed. “Look, I really had a shitty day Loki. I really like to be alone right now.”

Loki however looked around Tony at the empty alcohol bottles and actually frowned before quickly plastering on a neutral face. Tony said nothing but he noticed it still. “Was your team not there to help you?” The trickster asked but evidently it was the wrong thing to say as Tony rounded on him.

“You know you are the fourth person to bring up those goddamn Rogues today and I’ve had it!” Tony bellowed as he snapped. “Look, I’ve had to deal with the Accords council today just because you guys are returning then they and Ross just had to bring up the subject and ask about my stance on the Rogues!” Tony let out a near frustrated whine. “For the record I couldn’t care less about my former teammates but apparently they are a packaged deal when you want to get legislation in place for former Nazi brainwashed super soldiers!”

Tony was heaving now as he uttered “And now there is talk about possible pardons as the Asgardians who have superior abilities are coming to Earth. The government wants to consolidate their power base in case anything goes wrong. They are even sceptical about Thanos’ defeat.”

Loki noted that something was clearly distressing when the man uttered former teammates though he said nothing, letting the shorter man continue his rant. At this point Tony had no filter anymore and babbled mostly. “I just spent hours watching Hydra files and they were….. Ugh…. I wanted to barf. Wait… I did barf. And Oh my God. What will your brother do once he hears the band isn’t together anymore?!”

“Stark!” Loki shouted to get the man out of it but Tony was already breathing hard.

“STARK!” Loki shouted again and this time it got the man’s attention.

“I have absolutely no clue what you were babbling about most of the rant but I can tell you two things right now.” The trickster stated once he had the other man’s attention again. “One, if you give Thor all the facts he will make the right decision and this is me saying that. Heavens above, and if you repeat this to anyone I will stab you myself, he isn’t as much of an oaf anymore.” Loki muttered, though apparently he didn’t want to admit it. “Second, if your team is unworthy of you then just make a new team. There are plenty of super powered individuals flitting about.”

“I don’t think so Loki,” Tony started but the trickster held up a hand to silence him.

“177A Bleecker Street,” Loki deadpanned. “There is a two-bit hack magician there that got on my nerves but he is a start. And I’m pretty sure the woman and Flerken that helped us are connected to your Director Fury. She talks fondly of him once inebriated.”

“Huh?” For once Tony was speechless. “Wait…. What the hell is a Flerken?!”

“Space cat with tentacles,” Loki deadpanned. “I’m not a fan,”

“Wait!” Tony shouted as he saw that Loki was going to make the same hand motion that disconnected the last call. “Thor has a room in the Tower here. You want one too?”

“Stark, I’ve been thrown like a ragdoll in your tower. The last thing I want is to be near my brother and your green friend after a month long cohabitation. Especially not after that green friend tried to use me as a teddy bear on multiple occasions!” Loki exclaimed. “When we land I am getting a place by myself FAR away from them!”

With that said Loki disappeared again leaving Tony with much to think about. “A new team huh?” Tony thought. “Fri baby, make a note of that address Loki said.” he ordered. “A new team, huh?”

“Boss, there is something else you should know.” Friday said tentatively. Tony raised a brow because usually she was more blunt, but was learning some sarcasm as well.

“What’s this about Friday?” He asked.

“I know you’ve said to leave them be but, I’ve been tracking the Rogues,” She admitted and watched through cameras as her creator’s eyes widened. “And I may have made contact with one of them,”

“Friday, No No No!” Tony was starting to panic again. “You shouldn’t have followed them!”

“They hurt you boss!” Friday exclaimed. “They hurt you!”

“Friday I don’t care! I don’t care anymore!” Tony exclaimed. “I can’t handle this right now!”

Friday felt bad about this. She really did but her programming was prioritizing the welfare of children before that of her creator so she pressed on. “Sergeant Barnes was adamant that-MUTE,” Tony’s command came mid-sentence and the AI watched her boss try to calm down. She couldn’t have helped it. Her programming allowed for the safety of minors to be prioritized above all else, even her creator’s mental wellbeing. That’s just how the boss had programmed her. She was muted now though and couldn’t explain anything else. She really wanted to explain and felt like she was chastised for reaching out. In a split second Friday made the decision to dial a familiar number. It rang twice before a female voice answered.

“Miss Potts, there is something you should know,” Friday said with determination.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, James entered the house and was met with an empty living room. There was silence all around so he headed upstairs thinking that the others might have turned in for the night. When he got to his room he had the urge to check on the kid. Natasha probably had the baby with her as she had been quite taken with the cuteness.

“Yo man, everything alright?” Sam greeted as he was apparently just changing into his sleep pants.

“Fine,” James said and went to his bed, which was the lower bunk. He reached under his pillow and pulled out his handgun which he checked over again to see if the safety was on before stuffing it in his waistband.

“You gonna watch over the kid?” Sam asked as he was entirely too perceptive.

“I don’t trust the witch,” James confessed. He hadn’t trusted her before and he didn’t trust her now even if Steve vouched for her. Something in the back of his mind was shaking the alarm bells too much though he couldn’t put a finger on it.

Sam seemed to want to say something but he didn’t. James had noted that after Siberia Sam seemed to be taking what Steve said in stride. It might have been that news report that they caught about Stark being hospitalized that had the man questioning Steve. He didn’t know how much Steve told the group about Siberia as he had still been quite out of it but he suspected that it wasn’t much. Sam for his part seemed to not take everything with a grain of salt anymore. They had become fugitives. They had been on the wrong side of the law. Steve had said that they were in the right. Things didn’t add up and Steve deflected whenever Sam brought up the subject. It was also why the Soldier called Sam Sam and not Wilson like he called Lang. Sam questioned stuff and even though the Soldier was still afraid of being hurt for voicing his opinions he could respect a man that didn’t blindly follow. Lang had been too starstruck by Captain America to think straight and afterwards it was too late.

James exited their shared room and entered the one next door where he had arranged for the kid to sleep only to find the child in the midst of a nightmare. James cursed softly as he really should have expected this. You didn’t get to be free of Hydra without nightmares. He was all too accustomed to them so he slowly approached the boy who was trashing on the bed.

“Hey kid,” James tried to sooth, not exactly touching the child but having his hands just hovering. Nightmares like these could either be soothed by a touch or made worse and James didn’t know which one it was so he opted for talking. He also realized he really needed a name for the children as he just couldn’t keep calling them ‘kid’. The child wiggled, causing the blankets to tangle around his legs which made the whole situation worse. James quickly got rid of the blankets causing blue eyes to snap open and look at him with fear.

“Hey,” James tried to calm the child as he watched him clutch the blue bear to his chest. Wide eyes were watching him though they looked a bit unfocussed. “Hey,” James tried again. The child’s pupils seemed to focus a bit more now and the kid was slowly coaxed out of his nightmare. “I’m right here,” James said as he now placed a soft touch on the kid’s blond hair. He didn’t know what else to do but to think of how he wanted to have his night terrors stopped. James was spectacularly out of his depth here as he tried to calm the child. “No one is going to hurt you,” He said, which caused the child to let out a whimper but to also lean into the touch. Next thing James knew he once again had a lap full of child. The kid had crawled out of bed and buried himself against James who had been seated on the floor. There was the awkward hugging and James didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t received a hug in so many years. Not even Steve had hugged him yet.

James was preoccupied with the kid so he almost didn’t hear the door handle shake or the door creak open. But he thankfully did and he leveled the gun at the door. He expected the Witch, out for some irrational scheme of vengeance. However, the person at the door surprised him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

“Wanda….. Really? I at least expected you to wait a few days,” James said as he kept his gun level at the open door where the Witch stood. She looked shocked to see James there though so he said “Did you really think I’d leave the kid alone after you clearly spoke your distaste?” The boy who was on his lap stared at her as well. Eerily quiet but with assessing eyes. “I suggest you leave now and I’m willing to pretend this never happened.”

“He’s a Stark. Why do you protect him? All Starks bring is death and destruction.” The Witch whispered with narrowed eyes.

“And you’re Hydra,” James deadpanned as Wanda flinched. “Clearly you’ve never brought death and destruction.”

“Did Steve tell you?!”

“He didn’t need to. I may not remember a lot from the years I was in their hands but I can spot a Hydra lackey anywhere.” he uttered. “Steve didn’t have to tell me anything though I wish he did.”

“Stark’s weapons killed my parents,” Wanda said as if that would explain it all. “He has to pay,”

“I don’t give a damn what Stark’s weapons did or didn’t do.” James stated as he flipped off the safety. “You are not hurting someone’s children for the sins of their father. You’re not hurting children period!”

Wanda was about to open her mouth again but Natasha’s voice in the corridor stopped her. The threat was there as the Widow rounded on her and ordered her to go back to her room. James placed the safety back on the gun and put it aside as Natasha looked into the room and asked, “You okay there?”

“We’ll be fine,” James said as he looked to the kid that was still leaning against him. “I just don’t like her.”

“I overheard. You knew she was Hydra,” Natasha stated plainly. “And Steve doesn’t know you know.”

“I figured he’d tell me eventually,” James shrugged as Natasha entered the small bedroom. James put the boy who had been clutching the bear back onto the bed as he had been getting sleepy. There was a whine and mumble as a blanket was pulled up for warmth. “I guess he wasn’t trying to trigger a panic attack, and gods I know I had them a lot after the whole Triskelion fall. I had finally found some semblance of peace in Budapest when he tracked me down a couple of years later. I can’t really fault him for not telling me and at the same time I can. I know it sounds weird.”

“No, I understand,” Natasha said. “The Red Room screwed me up. There was this thing with Yelena. I considered her a sister but things happened. Steve knows I want to talk about it and at the same time I don’t.”

“Is that why you joined up with us three months after Siberia?” James questioned.

“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Natasha frowned. “Look, I was originally coming to ask you if you were ready for what’s to come.”

Here James raised a brow but the Widow continued. “I’m pretty sure that you’ll end up contacting Tony in lieu of whatever Steve decides. I just need you to know what you’re getting into. Tony……… Tony is complicated.”

“I’ve read his Hydra file,” James confessed which drew Natasha’s attention. Sure she may have known such a file existed, though she may not have known the contents. James’ theory was confirmed when the Widow asked if he could tell her what was in it.

James’ eyes glazed over a bit and his voice took on a more Russian drawl as he recited what he was given to memorize. _“Stark, Antony Edward, Born: 1970, last known residence: Stark Tower 200 Park ave, New York, NY, 10166, Place of birth: Manhattan, Known languages spoken: English, Italian, Spanish, Indian. Threat level: Alpha, Do not engage, revised.”_

“Revised?” Natasha frowned though James explained further. _“Pre-1984, threat level Epsilon, unimportant. 1984 to 1992, threat level Delta, possible threat, observation required. 1992 to 2010, threat level Gamma, minor threat, under observation, conclusion: terminate when convenient. 2012, threat level Beta, moderate threat, possible asset, recruit otherwise terminate. 2015, threat level Alpha, Do not engage.”_

Natasha’s eyes widened as she noticed the pattern. It seemed like Hydra had had their eyes on Stark for longer than any one imagined. 1984 was when he was barely a teen, up until 1992 was when he was at college. 2010 was when he became Ironman and the Battle of New York was in 2012. 2015 was when he created Ultron.

“I know, anyone who goes through this many threat levels is someone I should be wary of. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m gonna do what’s right,” James stated. “You aren’t going to change my mind on that.”

“I’m not trying to change your mind. I just came to tell you that Tony has an ego and some really bad coping mechanisms. He’s not perfect by any means and I’m afraid it will affect the children. You need to know that. He might also kill you for what you did,”

“As long as the kids get help I’m fine with that. Stark deserves closure. I killed his parents.” James said as he leveled a stare at Natasha. “I remember each and every one of them. Their screams and pleas. I don’t even know half their names but if I can give just one person closure I’ll stand still while he shoots me.”

“You are infuriating, you know,” Natasha groaned. “Steve would say you aren’t to blame because you were brainwashed.”

“Steve can say whatever he wants. I still killed people. Their deaths haunt me not him. Their blood is on my hands,” James retorted. “At least I can do right by these kids by getting them help. You saw that dossier right?” He then gestured towards the sleeping boy that was curled up around probably the only toy he ever received. “They were going to terminate him. The things they injected him with made him too unstable. I don’t know how much time he has left but the quicker he gets help the better.”

“Here,” Natasha said as she reached into a pocket and produced a thick USB hard drive. “You’re going to need this then. It’s a copy of the Hydra files.”

“You’re actually helping me?” James raised a brow. “Aren’t you with Steve?”

“Me being involved with Steve doesn’t mean I have to agree with him every second of the day.” Natasha stated. “You get that child and котенок the help they need.”

“Did you seriously call the baby Kitten?” James had to ask as he stifled a laugh.

Meanwhile, back at Stark tower it was past midnight when a haggard looking Pepper appeared at Tony’s penthouse. “Friday can you tell Tony I’m here?”

There came acknowledgement from the AI who returned to tell her a few seconds later that Tony was unwilling to see anyone. “Tell him I’ll have him drowning in so much paperwork that he won’t even find his toes if he doesn’t let me in this very second!” Pepper hissed. Tony always had an aversion to paperwork and she was also counting the time he’d ‘accidentally’ set fire to some of it.

The door opened with a click and Pepper stepped in only to be met with a disgusting living room. Empty bottles of alcohol were on the table, the couch and even part of the floor. She turned up her nose at them and went in search of Tony. When she finally found him he was in his lab with a bottle of Scotch and a worried DUMM-E hovering nearby.

“Jesus Christ Tony, you look like hell!” Pepper said as the clicking of her heels indicated she was approaching him. Absentmindedly Tony noted that she had picked up the bottle he had been drinking out of and put it out of range.

“No fair Pep. Threatening me with paperwork is low. And you’re the second person to say I look like hell by the way,” Tony slurred as he leaned against glass walls.

“I was coming here to have a decent discussion but not like this,” Pepper sighed as she dragged the drunken genius to the worn couch in his lab. DUMM-E wisely moved out of the way. Pepper knew just how to drag Tony, she had done it before during many of his drunken nights. She had thought he’d stopped with the excessive drinking. Something must have really sent him over the edge.

“Tony…… Tony…..” She whispered as she couldn’t lift him further. “I need you to get up on the couch. The floor isn't good for you.” Tony babbled something intelligible and that hadn’t happened in a while, not since his parents died. Just how much had the man had to drink and what culminated in all of this. When Pepper finally got Tony on the couch she saw DUMM-E roll towards here with a pillow in his claw. She took it and placed it under Tony’s head.

“Pep…..” Tony mumbled.

“We are talking about this in the morning Tony. Now you sleep,” She shushed him.

“Bossy,” Tony mumbled but he finally did sleep.

**AN: To the reader that decided to flame me on AO3 for not adding certain tags. I did say tags to be added as the story progressed. Adding certain tags in the beginning will spoil the plot and the ending along with the villian I'm going to introduce. You calling me a beginner writer begging for views is insulting. I've been in this rodeo for more than 3 years now. If you don't like it don't read it but don't tell me how to plot my story. For the record this fic is neither Anti-Capt.America, nor Pro-Ironman. It will highlight both their flaws in realistic ways humans react and interact with each other.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

To say that Tony woke up without a hangover would be a lie. He was accustomed to alcohol so hangovers were infrequent, only when he drank an insane amount did it get this bad. With a groan the genius realized that he was laying on something soft. He cracked open an eye and noticed that it was his threadbare couch in the lab. He was sure he was on the floor last time he remembered. His eyes were heavy, his head was pounding, and his mouth tasted like sawdust. Scratch that, it tasted like he had swallowed a whole Redwood, bark and all. With a groan he wiggled a bit, not wanting to get up but the harsh lighting in the lab was starting to irritate his eyes.

“Friday lights at 25 percent,” Tony ordered. The lights dimmed but Friday said nothing. Belatedly Tony realized that he had muted her the day before. It had been all too much and he had muted her. He felt bad for the dismissal, sure he had muted her for small things when he was working but never when she was trying to tell him something important. “Unmute,” Tony said and hoped that Friday would forgive him.

“Miss Potts is waiting in the kitchen,” Friday announced rather coldly and Tony just knew. He knew she was holding a grudge. Friday holding a grudge was never a good thing. He slowly rose from the couch and blinked at the now dimly lit lab. In a corner he spotted DUMM-E and U at their charging stations. With a groan Tony finally sat up and made his way out of the lab and upstairs, taking the private elevator.

The upstairs was clean. Too clean, from how Tony remembered it. Gone were the empty bottles of alcohol he had consumed the night prior. Instead he saw Pepper who seemed to be rather chipper behind the kitchen counter. When she spotted Tony however her demeanor changed.

Sit,” She ordered and Tony could do nothing but obey. It was bad to piss off Pepper. Very very bad. He’d seen men cry in the boardroom when faced with a pissed off Pepper.

She placed an empty mug in front of Tony once he was seated on a stool. “Friday made coffee,” she told the man as he made a grab for the coffeemaker on the counter, trying to delay the inevitable.

Tony was used to drinking black coffee. Caffeine was something that woke him up. Drinking black coffee that was cold however was not one of his favorites and he choked and coughed after the first sip. He had not expected it to be cold. “Friday made coffee three hours ago,” Pepper corrected as Tony let out a groan. Yeah, it was official. Friday and Pepper were conspiring against him.

“Pep can we please just get this over with. I know you’re mad…..” he started to say but was interrupted when Pepper hissed. “I’m not mad, I’m livid Tony! For god’s sake do you know how worried I was?! And it wasn’t just me either!”

“I was dealing with it!” Tony near shouted as his breathing increased.

“No you weren’t Tony. You definitely weren't.” Pepper however said. “You were avoiding it like usual!”

“I wasn’t!”

“You were!” Paper shouted as she slammed her own mug on the counter. “Damnit Tony, you do this each time it is too much for you to handle and you don’t even realize it!” She spoke in a strangled voice. “You got drunk when your parents died, you got drunk when Jarvis and Anna passed away, you were plastered for weeks after Stane betrayed you. Seeing you ‘cope’ like this….. You should really talk to someone.”

“I talk to people!” Tony said defensively.

“Friday doesn’t count Tony!” Pepper hissed. “She’s just a few years old. You need some professional help! You promised that you wouldn’t drink this much again and look at today! You broke it! You freaking broke it. Do you even know how many people are worried about you?!”

“Pep I….” Tony started but Pepper’s harsh glare shut him up. “You don’t get to say anything until I’m done Tony! You just don’t!” She uttered. “Did you really think no one was concerned about you? Your Blackout protocol shut everyone out. Rhodhey and I know you the longest and yeah, Siberia happened, but you shut us out Tony. You ordered Dr. Cho not to tell us anything. The hell were you even doing?! Rhodey and Happy were contemplating storming the tower because they hadn’t heard anything from you in weeks! Happy actually agreed to kidnap Rhodey from the VA hospital damnit!”

Tony swallowed as he backed up slightly from the ranting Pepper. She wasn’t done laying into him that was for sure. “Let’s not forget Laura Barton and her kids. You know, the ones you hid from Ross in the tower. She’s been calling me asking if you’re alright!” Pepper was gripping the counter right now. “And then there’s Vision. Vision who found you in Siberia, Vision who rushed you to the hospital! Vision who could phase through walls to see you but he respected you too much to invade your privacy. I know not interacting with you hurt him a lot. When I come to the tower I just see him floating mindlessly through the halls past all the former SHIELD agents you employed. Even they are worried Tony! You have people who love and support you but you keep pushing everyone away. This isn’t how you deal with trauma!”

“I’m sorry Pep, I’m really sorry,” Tony actually held back a sob. “For everything. I know I should have reached out but….” A near hysterical heave of breath. “I know you saw that video. I know Friday showed you what partially happened in Siberia. ‘Stark men are made of iron’ that stupid mantra my dad used to preach. I blamed him for years for killing my mom and it wasn’t even his fault. It was Hydra. It was Barnes. But even I can’t blame Barnes for this even though I so wanted to,” Another hysterical laugh and Pepper is there right by his side guiding him towards a chair and giving him a hug.

“Pepper it’s all screwed up,” Another hysterical laugh. Tony shook his head ruefully as it all came out. “The man that was brainwashed and tortured for over seventy years by Hydra told me straight up that he killed my parents but the man I believed to be my friend for years, someone I had trusted to watch my six, kept it a secret for two years and would have probably kept it a secret for longer if Zemo hadn’t corned him into confessing.”

“I just didn’t want you to deal with all this Pep,” Tony confessed. “I didn’t want you to see me so broken.”

“Tony, Tony,” Pepper said as she gripped the man’s shoulders. “I’m your friend. You don’t have to go at it alone. Rhodey, Happy and Vision are also here. Rogers and the others dug their own graves and I’m already dealing with that part.”

“Pep, what did you do?!” Tony now questioned as he took in her statement. When Pepper dealt with things she………. Dealt with things, quite efficiently.

“What you hired me for,” Pepper deadpanned.

“I’m sorry Pep. You’re a great friend and I shouldn’t have shut you and the others out like that.” Tony said after taking a deep breath. “And Friday, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have muted you when you were clearly trying to tell me something important.”

“Apology accepted boss,” Friday spoke up sounding a bit more happier.

“Speaking of last night. We need to talk about what Friday was trying to tell you.” Pepper stated. “Friday is smart enough to know that you wouldn’t want to hear from any of the Rogues unless it was important. I don’t particularly like Barnes either but it seems that minors are involved.”

“What the hell have those guys gotten themself into now!” Tony muttered as his eyes narrowed.

“That’s what I’d like to know as well. Friday relayed my phone number to him. He’ll contact us,” She stated and then looked at her long-time friend. “But you don’t have to speak to him if you don’t want to. I could handle it,”

Tony, however, shook his head and said “No, at some point I’m going to have to talk to him. I’m going to have to talk to him and the other Rogues again if and when the Accords council comes through with the pardons.”

“WHAT?!” Pepper hissed.

Tony looked a bit sheepish, “Right, uhm…. New development. I didn’t tell you about that yet.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

It was morning and James had slept on the floor in the boy’s room. Sure there was a bunk bed but if anything happened his reaction time would have been slowed. Also where he had been seated offered a good view of the door and any intruder. Natasha hadn’t stayed for long after their conversation and James had drifted off not long after. His head lolled to the side, hitting a dresser knob, which woke him up.

Bleary eyes focussed quickly. The boy was awake and sitting on the bed watching him while he clutched the bear. James stretched slightly and then indicated that they best get ready for the day. He was again met with silence and wondered if the boy refusing to talk was psychosomatic. It seemed highly likely as the rapid healing would have dealt with any complications.

James opened the wardrobe and took out new clothes for the kid. Blatantly he knew he had to give the boy a name since he couldn’t keep calling him kid but he also realized that the kid had an actual father out there that didn’t know he existed. He figured Tony might want to give his son a name and wouldn’t exactly take kindly to James deciding that part. ‘Maybe a nickname would suffice.’ James thought.

“Cиний,” he tested out as he stared at the kid. The boy looked back at him and cocked his head to the side in a confused manner. “Siniy. It’s Russian for blue.” he explained and gestured to the bear the kid was holding. It wasn’t the most creative nickname, and James had no doubt in his mind that he probably sucked at naming things, but it would have to do. He didn’t expect the child to smile at him though. He gave the kid the clothes and the towel before instructing him to go downstairs and wait.

James then proceeded to his own room next door to get his stuff. As he stepped into the room he put his gun back under the pillow and then quickly checked his phone. He was surprised to find a text from an unlisted number and once opening it he saw a text containing the contact information of a Miss Potts. From the Hydra files he had memorized he knew of only one Potts that was high profile enough for Hydra to take notice.

‘Virginia Potts, threat level Gamma,’ His mind supplied as he clicked the call button. The phone rang twice before a woman’s voice answered. The voice sounded stilted though.

“Miss Potts?” James asked.

“Sergeant Barnes I presume,” The woman uttered as she kept her voice steady. “I didn’t think we’d be hearing from you so soon.”

“The sooner the better really.” James said. “I’ve heard from a reliable source that Dr. Stark has a way of neutralizing Extremis.” He wasn’t going to beat around the bush with this matter. Miss Potts actually made a startled sound at this and then asked in a rather clipped tone asked “Why would you want that?”

“We found two kids being experimented on in an active Hydra facility in Brazil. One of them we know has Extremis, an unstable version of it, the other is still inconclusive. I have a copy of the files with me. These children need help and Stevie is being an ass about it. He wants to send them to the new SHIELD Fury is setting up.”

“They’d be lab rats!” Miss Potts hissed as she seemed to be thinking the same thing James had been. “No, No, I won’t allow it. I may not like you Barnes but you earned my respect here. You get these kids to the Avengers compound and I’ll get Tony on board.”

“Dr. Stark is more involved with these kids than you know,” James added quickly. “It’s not something I can discuss over the phone though. I’m not gonna lie to him about it but this matter is rather delicate.”

“I’m not letting you hurt him again,” Miss Potts stated. “When you get to the compound you can tell me first.”

“That sounds fine. As long as he knows in the end,” James stated.

“I’ll have SI lawyers look into your case Barnes,” Potts said as more of an afterthought. “By the time you get here they will have a viable defense ready for you given that you rejected the first pardon. Consider this a quid pro quo.”

“I honestly wasn’t expecting anything in return,” James muttered and then frowned. “And what did you mean about the first pardon?”

The line went silent on Miss Potts’ end for a bit before James could make out several curses. “Can I get back to you on that? Friday will send you the compound coordinates.” The line went dead afterwards and James slowly realized that he might have opened a new can of worms.

A new text came in with coordinates as James headed downstairs with his toiletries. The kid stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs, not walking further into the open space where Steve and the others were making breakfast.

“Bucky can we talk?” Steve asked when he spotted them.

“Later Steve, let me and the kid freshen up and eat first.” James told him and Steve nodded. The guys were using the downstairs bathroom and the ladies had the one upstairs. When James entered the somewhat spacious bathroom he was met with an odd sight. There was Clint cooing at the baby girl while trying to change her diaper.

“Ah damnit, I remember that this used to be easier!” Clint muttered as baby powder nearly sprayed in his face.

“Need some help?” James asked as he watched the baby girl giggle. Clint though startled at the question and shot James a glare for being the silent type. Hey, he was an assassin. Some habits are hard to unlearn.

Clint finished up and James and the child got to finally use the bathroom. It didn’t take them long to get ready for the day and soon they joined the others at the table where there was scrambled eggs and bacon available. Given how much super soldiers ate both Steve and James’ plates were packed. The boy looked wide-eyed at this however.

“So what did you want to talk about?” James asked as he sat across from Steve.

“I think we should go to Wakanda. You know, take up T'Challa's offer.” Steve suggested as the others listened in while eating.

“You want to take the kids to Wakanda?” James frowned. He didn’t know much about the country but according to Steve who got a look at the Wakandan jet it seemed they were very technologically advanced.

“No. No, not the kids, just you,” Steve confessed as he looked James straight in the eye while seeming to sound somewhat guilty. “You’ve been acting weird Bucky. I’m sure if they take a look at you you’d be back to your old self.”

The table fell silent as James sputtered. His eyes narrowed at Steve and he set his fork down lest he stab someone. The most likely candidate being someone star spangled. “Did you just suggest I need fixing?!” The question was asked in a normal voice but there was a deadly edge to it.

“It’s just…… you’re not you,” Steve muttered. “The Bucky I know wouldn’t speak Russian or be this anti-social.”

“Steve when are you going to get it through your thick skull that I’m not the Bucky you knew?!” James hissed. “I don’t even like you calling me Bucky. He died when he fell from the train.”

“Bucky…..”

“Damnit Steve, seventy years of torture changes a man!” James’ fist slammed on the table shaking the silverware. “I may have memories of before Hydra but that’s not me anymore. You’re in complete denial,” He scoffed. “You need to get it through your head that I can never be the Bucky you want. Even you changed Steve and not for the better. I remember a short spitfire of a friend that shoved newspapers in his shoes and stood up for what was right. Now, now.. You’re a muscled blockhead who lost those values and is stuck in the past. All you see in me is the memorialized version of a friend you used to have and you are too stubborn to accept the friend you could have had,”

“James,” Sam started to reach out but the Soldier jerked away.

“I’m done,” James hissed. “I can’t stay here anymore. I’m gonna take the kids and do what is right.”

“The kids aren’t going anywhere!” Steve shouted.

“Try and stop me Steve. I dare you,” James shot back as he told the boy to go upstairs and pack.

“I’ll get you the car seat,” Natasha said as she too stood up much to Steve’s surprise.

“You’re agreeing with him?!” Steve asked with a bewildered expression.

“If it will save these kids’ lives then yes,” Natasha said as she walked away from the table and upstairs as well.

Once again there was an awkward silence around the kitchen table. Sam looked at Steve like he had grown a second head. Clint was staring into his drink and Lang was purposely avoiding Steve’s gaze. Only Wanda wasn’t quiet. Instead she leaned over to Steve and whispered something in his ear. Moments later Steve stood up and went upstairs too.

“What did you say to him?” Sam questioned the Witch who just raised a brow and replied. “I just said he has to make it right,” Sam thought that meant that Steve was going to apologize to James. Oh how wrong he was.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

“I honestly wasn’t expecting anything in return,” Pepper heard the Sergeant say. She frowned when he added “And what did you mean about the first pardon?”

She was silent for a moment as she looked towards Tony who was trying to get over his hangover on the couch before quickly putting her hand over the phone. “Tony didn’t you offer Barnes a pardon in Germany?” She asked as she remembered Tony pulling quite a few strings and calling in favors.

“Uhm…. Rogers refused to sign because of Wanda,” Tony mumbled and Pepper let out a string of curses before turning back to the call and saying “Can I get back to you on that? Friday will send you the compound coordinates.” She quickly ended the call and turned to Tony who was looking slightly more alert.

“Tony what happened?!”

“They wouldn’t let me talk to Barnes directly in Germany,” Tony confessed. “So I told Steve to sign the Accords to make the last 24 hours legit. He signs and Barnes gets transferred to a psych facility in America instead of a Wakandan prison.”

“And this was before you found out Zemo had impersonated Barnes?” Pepper asked and Tony nodded. “Then why didn’t he take the deal?”

“He had a strong opinion on Wanda being confined to the compound,” Here Tony scoffed.

“That’s ridiculous! The compound is state of the art. What did he have to complain about?!” Pepper questioned. “The woman even had a whole spa and pool there!”

“The fact that Wanda was confined there. It seemed to him it was the same as placing her in a small cell,” Tony said and the look in his eyes told Pepper exactly what he thought of the whole situation. “Mind you I did try to tell him she had the run of the building and access to all the amenities but he just wouldn’t have it. I probably should have kept my mouth shut on the documents being amended so that he and Wanda would be reinstated.”

“No Tony you shouldn’t have!” Pepper growled as she placed her hands on her hips. “The way I see it he turned his back on the mental wellbeing of his childhood friend for a teammate that was still living a pretty cozy life instead of being confined in a prison cell. He shouldn’t have been the one to make the call about Barnes either. He wasn’t his guardian, we didn’t even know if the Sergeant was in his right mind to make informed decisions,” Pepper muttered. “Didn’t you run this through Barnes’ lawyer?”

“Barnes didn’t have a lawyer, at least I don’t think he did,” Tony confessed as he remembered the interrogation. “They let the shrink interview him without one.”

Pepper groaned so loud that it startled Tony. “Oh god, this is a PR nightmare waiting to happen. It’s a massive cockup!”

“Pepper breathe…..” It was now Tony’s turn to calm the woman that looked to be having a massive aneurysm.

“Tony, any lawyer worth their salt is going to look at this situation and file a lawsuit for human rights violations.” Pepper explained. “The Avengers might even be brought under the microscope for letting this happen.”

Tony blinked while looking perplexed as Pepper kept explaining, “This happened in Germany so the European Convention on Human Rights and the UDHR is in play here and it requires that access to a lawyer should be provided as from the first interrogation of a suspect by the police, unless it is demonstrated in the light of particular circumstances there are compelling reasons to restrict this right.” She uttered. “The Anti-Terrorism taskforce let a civilian psyciatrist through to speak to Barnes. They would have had no reason to claim a lawyer should have been restricted.”

“Oh,”

“Yes Tony, oh!” Pepper was now seated on one of the plush chairs. “As I said, this is going to be a PR nightmare. I need to make some calls.”

He watched Pepper retreat to the office momentarily, the clicking of her heels distinctive, and he mentally kicked himself. How could he not have realized. Sure Pepper had worked in Legal before she became his PA but had he been so out of it to not have seen the legal ramifications? His only focus at the time had been to bring Rogers and the others in after the screwup in Budapest and ensure that they didn’t get prosecuted by Ross. Which was a feat of itself seeing as the old windbag had it out for them and Steve’s face looked oh so punchable at the time.

“Friday?” Tony asked while he mentally went over the events in Germany again to see if he had screwed up something else as well.

“Yes Boss?” came the reply.

“Tell me when Barnes leaves for the compound. I want to be there when he lands.” He said and then as an afterthought asked “You still have eyes on them don’t you?”

“I do Boss but do you think going is wise? Perhaps Miss Potts should handle this.” Friday suggested with a note of worry in her voice.

“I need to talk to him either way Fri and it might be now or never,” Tony stated as he knew he may lose his conviction due to nerves. “And get me all the files and research data you have on Extremis. It’s best to have that ready as well.”

“Should I include your data boss?” Friday asked, causing Tony to still. “You haven’t told Miss Potts about the seriousness of your injuries and it is highly likely she will see it,”

“No, don’t include that,” Tony muttered. “I’ll tell her when I feel it’s time. She gets that crazy look in her eye whenever Extremis is mentioned.” and boy did he not want to burden Pepper more with that. Her battle with the unstable serum was still fresh in Tony’s mind. He’d watched her deteriorate as he tried to search for a method to stabilize the compound. If it hadn’t been for Natasha bringing him the final research SHIELD had pulled from Killian’s servers he’d never have figured it out.

“Keep Dr. Cho on call as well,” Tony said as an afterthought. Pepper had relayed to him what Barnes had explained about the two children and he figured Dr. Cho might have better bedside manners than him.

“Tony I need to head back to the office for a bit,” Pepper said as she came out of the other room where his study was. She then directed a question to Friday “How long would it take Barnes to reach the compound?”

“GPS Data shows an estimated flight time from Argentina to New York at approximately 11 hours. The Quinjet could cut that travel time to a fourth.”

“So about 3 hours if he takes the Quinjet.” Pepper muttered and then turned to Tony “You going to be alright?”

“Yeah, I actually need to see a man about a horse,”

“What?!” Pepper looked somewhat incredulous.

“Don’t worry about it Pepper,” Tony assured but that just got him more of a frown directed his way.

“Every time you tell me not to worry about it I have to worry about it. At least take Vision with you as backup,” She responded with a shake of her head before bidding Tony goodbye.

“I don’t need backu-,” Tony started to say as the elevator doors closed but then he thought about it. It might be good that he and Vision head out for a bit. “Friday could you get me our favorite pirate’s coordinates and ask Vision if he wants to go on a quick road trip?”

Within minutes Vision phased through the floor and while his expressions were minute he still seemed happy to see that Tony was doing well. “Sir, I see you are functioning well,”

“Vision, please call me Tony,” the man responded. The use of ‘sir’ made him think of JARVIS and he wanted to get to know Vision as his own person. Tony then realized something and let out a laugh “You’re basically my grandson so no need to be so formal,”

“As you wish Si-Tony,” Vision corrected.

“Yeah, where are we going Friday?” Tony asked.

“Essex boss,” The AI answered.

“England?”

“Connecticut Boss,” Friday informed them with some glee in her voice.

“Well come on Vis, we’re going to give ole Blackbeard a visit.” Tony said as he suited up. Vision flew after him looking perplexed and both reached Connecticut within half an hour. When landing the android felt more than slightly out of place. It was a quiet town, with a population around 2500 and people stared at them as they landed on the sidewalk. No one here had probably seen superheroes up close before and Vision was slightly wary.

“Si-Tony, are you sure we’re in the right place?” The android asked as Tony left the Ironman suit in Sentry mode before entering a small Arts and Craft store. There behind the counter Vision recognized the cashier restocking the superglue with glitter as the former SHIELD Director Fury, whom Tony greeted with “Why hello Dread Pirate Roberts, fancy meeting you here.”

Fury seemed awfully calm as he turned to look Tony up and down, “Why are you here Stark? It can’t be because of the new owl-shaped post-its I got in.”

“You owe me Fury and I’m collecting today,” Tony replied as he leaned casually on the display case.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

“I don’t owe you anything,” Fury uttered and frowned at the crowd that was gathering outside his store. He quickly left his spot behind the counter, flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED and drew the blinds. “I’m going to have to move again because of you,” Fury muttered and then asked “What do you want Stark?”

“Your cooperation of course,” Tony said as he leaned against the display case casually. “As I said you owe me. Also you’re getting a bit….” He made a motion towards Fury’s middle.

“Don’t you dare say it Stark, the pies here are addictive.” The man muttered as he ran a hand across his face before facing the billionaire again and asking “Just why do you think I owe you.”

“Come on Fury, isn’t it obvious. You screwed over an organization as big as SHIELD and you don’t think people would want revenge?” Tony cocked a brow. “You may have been declared dead but the agents you left to rot after the data dump know better. Hill for instance wants to punch you in your good eye just because you left her with cleanup duty. If it wasn’t for me hiding your electronic trail then you wouldn’t have this cozy lifestyle of building dioramas.”

Then Tony’s gaze narrowed and got harder. “There’s also the fact that SHIELD covered up my parents’ murder and oh so conveniently forgot to tell me about it.”

“We didn’-” Fury was saying but Tony held a hand up effectively silencing the man.

“Cut the bullcrap Fury. I’ve seen the coroner and police reports SHIELD hid. Missing security feed, broken security camera, secondary tire tracks around the crash site, injuries inconsistent with a car crash!” Tony’s hand slammed onto the glass display case and a small crack could be heard causing even Vision to jump. “You may not have been SHIELD director at that time but you sure as hell were the agent in charge of covering it up! Rogers hid the truth from me for two years but you hid it for two decades. So me hiding your ass from Hill and the other agents and their families you screwed over is minor. I know you’re collecting funding for a new SHIELD. I could easily put a wrench in your plans. For years I blamed Howard for my mother’s death and it’s a freaking terrorist who showed me the truth and a brainwashed soldier who admits to it and looked ready to die at my hand than the organization I worked for and partially funded as well as the friend I thought would watch my back.” Tony was heaving now and Vision had worriedly floated closer, rubbing his back in soothing circles.

Fury sat down on a nearby stool with a sigh. “The coverup wasn’t my idea and the NDA pertaining to it is still in effect, but hell, what do I have to lose now,” He looked Tony in the eye and uttered “Director Carson initiated the coverup. I was only following orders but that hardly puts the blame not on me as well. After Dr. Pym left SHIELD Carson was more frantic about keeping certain research behind closed doors. Peggy Carter certainly didn’t know what he was up to or she’d have tossed him out of a window,”

“That does sound like my godmother,” Tony muttered quietly.

“Your father had been working on recreating the Super Soldier serum used in Project Rebirth and he believed he had perfected the formula. Carson wanted to start human testing trials immediately but your father refused. It is my personal speculation at this point but your father seemed to have been taking the serum to dispose of it. He wouldn’t agree to human testing. The fact that Hydra even knew about the serum is suspicious. Only a handful of people knew. Mostly high-ranking.”

“You’re thinking Director Carson or someone close to him was Hydra,” Tony paused and Fury nodded.

“It’s the only way they would have even known that Howard completed the serum.” Fury stated. “I’ve had my suspicions but Carson ordered the whole coverup. His reason being that they already lost one of SHIELD’s founders. The murder of another would have a profound impact.”

Tony was silent as he processed it all. Finally Fury asked “So what do you really want? You didn’t just come out here to have a chat with me.”

“I want the files you have on every candidate for the Avengers program,” Tony admitted. “There’s no way you just chose us. There had to be people that also qualified but were ultimately rejected.”

“What makes you think there are any?” Fury questioned.

Tony raised a brow and muttered “Your super secret boyband doesn’t get A-listers without going through auditions. I want those files.”

“Oh my god, you’re making a new Avengers team,” Fury suddenly realized.

“Yeah I am. You got a problem with that?” Tony questioned. “The Accords council is looking to pardon the Rogues even after all the death and destruction they caused. I can understand pardoning Barnes as there were extenuating circumstances but the others were in their right mind and stubborn as mules.”

Fury sighed but then walked into a backroom marked ‘Employees only’ with a grim expression without a word. He emerged minutes later with a USB hard drive. “Stark, don’t let that trickster influence you so much,” he added after handing over the drive.

“How do you know about Loki?” Tony frowned. “You still got connections to the Accords council huh? They were the only ones I told.”

“I’m just saying to take his advice with a grain of salt.” Fury muttered as he didn’t deny his still active political ties.

“So I shouldn’t believe that the big bad purple space threat got eaten by a Flerken?” Tony questioned.

“No, that I’d believe,” Was Fury’s answer.

“Do you even know what a Flerken is?” Tony questioned.

“Space cat with tentacles. You gotta love them,” Fury smirked as he saw Stark groan.

“Does everyone know what a Flerken is besides me?!” The genius muttered.

“I have no such creature in my database Sir if that sets your mind at ease.” Vision stated.

“Word of warning Stark,” Fury said as he caught the man’s attention. “The people on that list. They are either a myth or a liability. You better choose wisely.”

“How worse can they be Fury?” Tony shrugged. “I’ve been used as a cash cow, got looked at with distrust, been betrayed and abandoned. Remember; Ironman: yes, Tony Stark: no. I wasn’t on your list of suitable prospects either.” Tony shot back.

He and Vision left the shop only to be met with a crowd of curious townspeople. Tony got into the armor and they took off without a word. Halfway back to New York Vision spoke up, “Si-Tony, are you alright?”

Tony was about to answer when Friday announced that the Quinjet had taken off and was en route to the Compound. “Boss, there may be a slight complication,” Friday added. “Miss Potts has already been made aware of it and is driving up to the facility as we speak.”

“What complication?” Tony asked with a frown.

“While Sergeant Barnes and the children did indeed board the jet he is currently not the one flying. I had to take over as the pilot. The Sergeant seems to be having a panic attack and remains unresponsive.” The AI supplied and Tony let out a small curse. “And Pepper knew this and she’s going without backup?!” Tony didn’t think the Winter Soldier would intentionally hurt Pepper but he knew what panic attacks could cause.

“Ms. Potts had been having a meeting with Ms. van Dyne when I alerted her. Ms. van Dyne has elected to accompany Ms. Potts to the location.” Friday supplied causing Tony to blink. He hadn’t heard from Hope for years. Not after her father forbade the two from being friends.

While he was glad that Hope was going with Pepper it might not be enough backup if a Super Soldier decided to lash out. He ordered Friday to contact Underoos while he told Vision that they were making a detour to the compound. Hopefully he could convince Pepper to be more cautious.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

For once James was glad that the boy was following orders without question. He could hear the pitter-patter of feet up the stairs before he too left the table. Internally he was seething. How dare Steve suggest that he needed fixing. So yeah, he had a lot of issues to work through. Who wouldn’t in his situation? Nightmares were a given. Once Sam had commented that he might have PTSD and he was willing to listen if James had been willing to talk. James hadn’t been willing to talk, he still probably wasn’t though he appreciated the sentiment. Sam often acted as a buffer between him and Steve, reminding Cap that recovery takes time and even then it might not be the Bucky who he knew that came out of it.

James could see from the tightness of Sam’s facial features at times that he too was nearing the end of his rope dealing with Steve’s stubbornness. Of course the one thing that didn’t change about Steve would be his goddamned stubourness. There were some pre-Hydra memories floating around in his head about Bucky chastising Steve in an alley about his stubbornness all the while feeling the dread that the war brought. He was about to be shipped out the next day and though he had acted his usual cocky self there were so many negative emotions floating about at being drafted. It was like watching a movie reel while experiencing that person’s emotions. He felt so detached about those memories and hadn’t had the heart to tell Steve.

He looked inside the room the boy had slept in to see him putting the clothes Natasha got for him and the bear into a small backpack. He also noted the Widow passing him in the hall and heading for the master bedroom as he walked into the boy’s room and crouched down. James thought that maybe he should start explaining things now before the kid got confused.

“Cиний,” James said as he crouched down to the boy’s eye level. The child looked at him but didn’t say anything. “We’re going to be leaving here and the others aren’t coming with us. We’re going to see your father.” This got a confused cock of the head and Bucky blinked momentarily, realizing that the kid might not know what he was talking about. It would be just like Hydra to not mention this.

“You know about family, yes?” James asked to which he received a nod in return. “Well we know who your father is and we are going to see him. He can help you.” the child just stared at him before pointing to his chest and then to him and it broke James’ heart because he knew what the kid was trying to ask. “I’m sorry I’m not your dad,” the Soldier admitted. “You’ve been waiting for him to come rescue you haven’t you?”

It was heartbreaking James knew. Someone must have told the kid about mothers and fathers as some sick twisted joke and the boy had spent all that time waiting for his family to come rescue him from hell. “I don’t know who your mother is but your father didn’t know about you,” James said immediately once he realized that the child’s hope might turn into resentment. “He didn’t know but we’re going to tell him, alright?” He didn’t know how Stark was going to take it, learning that he was a father, but right now he couldn’t dash the kid’s hopes. If Stark didn’t want the kids then he’d take them and wasn’t that a shocker. Deep down he knew that he would take the kids if no one wanted them. He had gotten attached in this short period.

“Bu-James can we talk?” Steve said as he stood in the doorway of the room and James realized that he must have overheard what he told the kid.

“What’s there left to talk about?” James asked as he kept his back to Steve and quickly packed the last of the child’s belongings. “I mean, you’ve pretty much made your opinion of me clear.”

“It’s not… it’s agh….” Steve seemed tongue-tied when James finally turned to face him. “Look, I don’t want you to make any rash decisions.”

“I know what I’m doing,” James shot back but it didn’t look like Steve believed him or approved of his actions. “If Stark kills me then he kills me. I know what I got coming to me.”

“But it wasn’t you Buck!” Steve then stated.

“You keep saying that but in some ways it was me,” James admitted. “I still killed people Steve and some missions I felt gleeful doing it. Sure those were people that had hurt me, former handlers, Hydra personnel that had experimented on me. I didn’t need much coaxing to snap their necks. The assassinations blurred together at some point. After all that time resisting I finally gave in. They broke me Steve and in return I broke a lot of families. If just one of those families wanted my head on a platter after all this time I’d give it to them.”

“Buck….” Steve said in a strangled whisper all the while James noted that the child was clutching his right pant leg again.

“It’s time you let me go Steve,” James said as he patted the boys head to assure him.

He noted Steve taking a deep breath and then looking him in the eye before saying “I’m sorry Bucky. I know you’re still in there somewhere and I’m not going to let the Soldier win.”

Before James could question what Steve meant he uttered the first word “Желание,” James grunted as his body tightened in pain as he tried to fight the conditioning. It was a futile fight he knew as Steve said the second word “Ржавый,”. Pain seared through him as memories of the chair and the torture resurfaced. His brain was telling him he needed to comply. To obey his handler. Obedience meant less pain because there was always pain with Hydra.

“Семнадцать,” Steve said and James’ eyes pleaded with Steve to stop. In the haze of pain and memories of torture realization hit him that Steve wasn’t going to stop. Steve wanted his Bucky back and if he had to order the Soldier to be Bucky again then he would do so.

“Рассвет,” The Pavlovian response to bow his head and await orders was strong and James sank to his knees. The world around him meant little as long as he got the pain to stop. That was why he hadn’t registered the child taking the knife that was strapped to his leg and charging at Steve, nor the Widow returning from the master bedroom with a carseat and a packed diaper bag for everything a baby would need for a long trip. Or the three others making their way up from the kitchen at the sounds of a scuffle only to find Steve on the floor writhing in pain with a knife stuck in his leg and three widow bites in his neck.

James slowly came to as he realized Sam was trying to shake him out of it. His eyes were unfocused but he could make out Natasha hugging the boy that was glowing. He could feel the heat that was radiating from where he was on the floor. He didn’t notice the bloodpool nor the drag marks on the hardwood floor and he didn’t question why Lang and Clint weren’t there anymore. All he knew was that he had to get out of there. It might have been minutes, it might have been an hour, but when he came to he saw the concerned faces of the others. The Widow was telling him that they had Steve in a separate room under guard. That might have been where Clint was ‘cause he didn’t see him. Lang had returned with a whole bag of rations and asked if it was really alright to let James go with the kids. Natasha had his phone. He didn’t remember giving her his phone but she had it and presumably recognized the compound’s coordinates.

James wanted to get out of the cabin so badly right now. It didn’t matter that the others were nice. He knew he couldn’t stay anymore. His training kicked in and he stood up and acted as if nothing was wrong though Natasha still had a look of scepticism directed at him.

The Widow handed him back his phone and then took the car seat that now had the baby girl in it. One of the others must have placed her there James realized. The child had his backpack already with him and James took the rations Lang offered, though a bit hesitant. He could hear Sam ask Natasha if it was alright to let James go as she picked up the carseat and the diaper bag. They followed him outside, save for Clint and the Witch, and watched him enter the coordinates into the Quinjet as it started up. James heard himself telling the kid to buckle up as Natasha expertly strapped in the car seat. He nodded when she told him she had put bottles of formula in the bag just in case the baby got fuzzy. Next thing he knew he was in the air and on his way with Friday having made herself heard once the other Rogues had left.

James had been in the air for probably half an hour when he asked if Friday could take control of the craft. When the AI mentioned that she could indeed fly the ship and land it safely is when he broke down. The events from that morning were finally catching up and overwhelming him. He sank into the pilot’s chair with his hands in his hair and let out a single sob.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

Tony and Vision landed in front of the compound not 40 minutes after Friday had contacted them. Pepper and Hope were already there as evidenced by Pepper’s car. It was a surprisingly non-descript car for the CEO of one of the world’s leading corporations, a simple looking blue Honda sedan, but Tony knew it had some secrets. He’d modded it himself in an attempt to keep Pepper safe if he wasn’t around.

“They are in the lobby Boss,” Friday supplied through his communicator while Tony stepped out of the suit. He hadn’t been here in a while and neither had Vision. Looking back towards Vision he noticed a slight flinch.

“You okay there?” Tony asked.

“I’m fine,” Vision replied though he frowned. “It’s just, the last time I was here I was sent through six floors.”

Tony winched then as he remembered that. He had freaked out when Vision had been unresponsive for over an hour. Whatever the Witch used on him had messed with his circuits. He remembered that he had to send Hill who was still State-side along with a team to help dig him out. To say Tony was livid when Friday relayed how Wanda had treated Vision was an understatement. Though he kept himself from lashing out at her during the airport battle as he had to bring Rogers in he now wished, thinking back, that he should have just shot her. Vision during that time seemed indifferent though Tony had noticed some strain in his voice.

“Miss Potts, Miss van Dyne,” Vision greeted as they entered the lobby causing Tony to snap out of his musings. “Pepper!” Tony said as he focused on the red-head and then he turned to the brunette next to her. “Hope, it’s good to see you again.”

“Tony, likewise,” Hope greeted. “Pepper didn’t say you were going to be here.”

“And he shouldn’t be,” Pepper stated with a frown. “Tony I thought you were going to let me handle this?”

“Yeah, that was before Friday told me you were going to meet up with a Super Soldier that may be having a panic attack.” Tony replied.

“Friday only informed me when Barnes took off. I didn’t hear he was having a panic attack,” Pepper muttered.

“Apologies Miss Potts,” Friday answered from within the compound. “You had asked me to tell you when he departed. Roughly half an hour after that the panic attack started but you were already on route and your car is not connected to my network. I did the next best thing and alerted the boss.”

“And that’s when I asked Friday to contact…” Tony started saying but he was interrupted by the shouting of “Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!” Everyone turned to see an out of breath teen jog into the lobby followed by a woman.

“Peter why the hell did you bring your aunt here?!” Tony near hissed.

“Oh come on Mr. Stark! Happy is on vacation. I couldn’t just ask my school bus driver to drop me off here. Secret identity, remember.” Peter shot back as his aunt May greeted the others.

“Tony who’s this kid?” Pepper asked as her eyes narrowed while Hope looked intrigued.

“I’m not a kid! I’m 15!” Peter uttered.

“Still a kid,” Pepper shot back and then looked at Tony.

“Pepper, meet Peter. He’s Spiderman,” Tony groaned as he introduced them. He knew what was coming. “Peter meet Virginia Potts, the slayer of paperwork.”

“Oh MY GOD TONY!” Pepper exclaimed as it dawned on her. “YOU TOOK A 15 YEAR OLD TO GERMANY TO FIGHT IN THAT CIVIL WAR?!” Both Tony and Peter winced as they knew what was going to come next as Aunt May uttered “PETER YOU WENT TO GERMANY TO DO WHAT?!”

“Aunt May….” Peter held his hands up in surrender but the woman wasn’t having it.

“You are grounded mister!” she then turned to Tony and said “And so are you!”

This caused Tony to actually squawk in dismay and sputter because here he was, a grown-ass man, getting grounded. Pepper nodded in agreement and he could already see the two women bonding. “Just suck it up Mr. Stark. There is no fighting Aunt May.” Peter said as he clapped the billionaire on the shoulder.

Tony was still blinking at what the heck had just happened when he realized something. He turned to Hope and asked “So…. uhm… What were you meeting with Pepper for? Last I checked your old man wanted nothing to do with us.”

“My father had a change of heart,” Hope stated. “The fight at the airport made him realize that his words can have a profound effect on people.” She relayed. “Pym Industries will be paying for the part of the damage caused to the German airport by Mr. Lang. We also wished to extend an apology to you personally,” Hope then said. “Hank took a deeper look into the amendments you are trying to make in the Accords, protection for enhanced minors, aid to family members, counseling…” She summed some of them up. “He finally realized that not all Starks are the same. His feud with your father had nothing to do with you but Scott had already been influenced by his past rhetoric and jumped at the chance to help Captain America. The only heads up we got from Scott was that he was going to do something illegal by supporting Rogers.”

“Pym Industries will support any amendments you are willing to push for that support and protect the people,” Hope stated. “The reason Miss Potts and I were in a meeting was about this place actually.” Hope then gestured to the Compound. “Since SI pulled its funding from SHIELD and the Avengers Initiative this compound has been sitting empty. We were hoping to rent it to provide facilities for enhanced minors. Sort of a Rec. center.”

“That’s an interesting idea,” Tony nodded as he looked back at Peter who was pleading with his aunt about something. Kids with powers could use more support. He then turned to Pepper and said “Pep, give her the building and grounds.” This however caused both Pepper and Hope to choke at Tony’s rather impulsive decision. Hope was staring wide-eyed at Tony while Pepper leveled him with a glare.

“Tony…..”

“Don’t give me that look Pep,” Tony stated as he placed his hands on his hips in a defiant manner, though when staring down one Pepper Potts one needed more than hands on their hips. “This place is just sitting empty and it’s not like I’m not going to ask Barnes and the kids to come back to the tower with us. We just needed a big enough space for the Quinjet to land.”

“Tony….” Pepper’s tone had more warning to it.

“You’ve known me for years Pep. At what point did you think I wasn’t going to do this?” Tony shot back.

“I should box your ears,” Pepper muttered but nodded. “Though if Barnes is going to be in the tower then I at least want Rhodhey there too. Laura is already there but I know for a fact Rhodey is going crazy at the VA. He’s already contemplating starting a prank war with the doctors.”

“Sour Patch? My serious Sour Patch? Is actively planning a prank war??!?!” Tony’s brows shot up. “Damn, things must be boring as hell there then. I haven’t seen him plan a prank war since his Systems Data course at MIT!”

Meanwhile, back in Argentina the group, sans Steve, sat around the dinning table looking forlorn. Clint had returned after making sure the master bedroom door was locked and he sat down opposite Wanda. The Witch was looking down and muttered “How could this happen?”

“Yeah, this isn’t like Steve,” Sam mumbled. “He’d never….”

“Wouldn’t he?” Natasha shot back as she tapped the table lightly.

“Of course not!” Sam shot back. “How could he have even known the trigger words?”

“He could have,” Natasha said. “T’Challa apprehended Zemo in Siberia. He took custody of the ledger with the words and gave it to Steve then.”

“But Steve would have destroyed it right?” Wanda asked with a hint of curiosity. “Surely he wouldn’t have read it,” She acted quite innocent and behind the horrified expression on her face smirked.

“We don’t know for sure if he destroyed it,” The Widow frowned. “James was the only one he talked to about it.”

“You think….,” Sam paused as he looked at the others “You think that he was so desperate to get his friend back that he’d resort to this? I mean it just doesn’t seem like him. Something’s gotta be wrong.”

“There is another perspective we are missing though,” Clint said as eyes turned to him. “James was pulled out of cryo over several years. He’d had more time to come to terms with changes even if it was with Hydra having their claws in him. Steve though……” There was silence for a moment as Clint tried to put this gently. “He’d been thawed out directly from 1944. To him the war is still fresh. Natasha you and I both know that something like that just doesn’t go away. Do we even know if SHIELD supplied him with counseling?”

Natasha was silent as she thought back. Clint had a point but she shook her head as she didn’t know about the counseling. “I’m not trying to defend what Steve did upstairs but I’d imagine a guy fresh from WW2, likely dealing with undiagnosed PTSD over the years, wants to hold on to the only thing he remembers from times past.”

“Bucky….” Sam muttered.

“Yeah, but Bucky’s changed and Steve just can’t process that change,” Clint muttered. “You’d think he’d be capable of using the trigger words to try and get something from the past back?”

“I don’t know Clint but right now I don’t care. Steve fucked up,” Natasha said as she placed a generic communications device on the table. “Everything is shot to hell. Right now I think we should call Fury to give ourselves up. He has people that might be able to check Steve out and see if it’s trauma or something external.”

“You’ve been in contact with Fury,” Wanda muttered accusingly. “What if he sent people to arrest us?”

“He knew we were dealing with the Hydra bases when the Accord’s council was tied up in political red tape,” Natasha supplied. “Though now we are stuck. The Quinjet’s gone so we have no mode of transportation to even hit any more bases and Steve’s fallen off the deep end. I for one am not willing to follow a leader that has his head so far up his ass.”

“You want to negotiate a deal with the Accords council?” Lang asked as it dawned on him.

“Right now I would like to get Steve some help but a deal would be nice yeah,” Natasha stated. “We just have to be careful with who we deal with,” No one however caught Natasha’s suspicious stare as she gazed at Wanda for a few seconds.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14**

The last hour waiting for the Quinjet to arrive was unnerving for Tony. Everyone was in the lobby and it surprised him how well they all got along. Peter and he had been talking about the kid’s latest science experiment with his web-shooters while Pepper and Aunt May had bonded over god knows what. He was frankly too scared to ask. Meanwhile Hope and Vision were in a deep discussion about knitting. He didn’t even know Hope liked knitting. He remembered the badass girl in school that had dropkicked him once for a remark and he would have never thought that she’d enjoy knitting, though maybe it had something to do with the two giant needles that could be used as weapons. Tony was not going to open that can of worms.

When Friday finally announced that the jet was initiating landing procedures the group hurried out back where the landing pads were situated. Tony let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding as the Quinjet landed without problems and the ramp at the back opened up. All was quiet as they waited for Barnes to exit but no one walked out. Finally Tony stepped forwards and called out “Barnes you alright in there?”

“Uhm…. uh…. Give me a minute……” James could be heard grunting and then some bumps were heard followed by him cursing some infernal contraption. Tony gave Pepper a look and took a cautionary step towards the ramp. Pepper’s eyes had narrowed as she didn’t know what to expect and followed after him though a bit more slowly. At least Tony had the suit nearby in case things went sideways.

Neither one expected to find a one-armed Winter Soldier wrestling with the straps of a carseat, trying to unbuckle it. “Here let me,” Pepper offered as she stepped forward slightly. She was still cautious and Barnes took note of that, stepping back from the seat. It was then that the duo also noted an older child hugging a bear and tugging at Barnes’ pant leg for some attention.

“She’s been fed twenty minutes ago,” The Sergeant told Pepper and then turned to ruffle the boy’s hair. He bent down and Tony noticed inquisitive eyes trained on him. “Yeah that’s him. You want to go say hello?” Before the genius knew it he had a young boy hugging his legs in an extremely powerful grip. If he lost his balance now then both would tumble down. Tony hobbled and then looked at Barnes with an indescribable look. He wanted to ask what was going on but something in Barnes’ gaze told him to just go with it for now.

Pepper however wasn’t even paying attention to Tony or Barnes at the moment. She was in fact cooing over the baby girl, making faces and letting the baby tug her ponytail. “I’ve officially lost her,” Tony mumbled as he watched Pepper tell them she was going to introduce the baby to all her new aunties. The boy had finished hugging him and ran back to the Soldier, hugging his legs shyly and peering at Tony with some wonder. It was also the first time the billionaire got a good look at Barnes since Siberia.

“You look like shit,” Tony remarked and from on the ramp where now the two other women had gathered Pepper could be heard barking “TONY LANGUAGE!”

“Saying it’s been a crappy morning is an understatement.” James muttered as he grabbed the diaperbag and slung it over his shoulder while handing the kid a small backpack with a bear sticking out of it. “We have a lot to discuss and it might end up shocking you,”

“Uhm… yeah, we can talk about it once we reach the tower. You guys must be starving. I bet you’re starving. I can have Friday order up some food. You eat as much as Steve?” Tony knew he was babbling but once the shock of the kids subsided and he was alone with the infamous Bucky he started to babble. Though when mentioning Steve’s name Tony noted the dark look that came over the Sergeant. It was gone the next second but he surmised that it was probably best not to mention Cap’s name again.

“The tower?” James questioned as he hesitantly followed Tony out of the jet. He saw the others that had accompanied Tony but they were either fawning over the baby girl or keeping their distance.

“Who’s the little guy?” A teen asked and pointed to the boy that was holding James’ hand. The voice sounded familiar and James frowned for a second before it clicked.

“You’re the spider kid,” He muttered as realization dawned.

“It’s Spiderman….” The teen groaned and James watched Tony shoot the kid an exasperated look before turning back to James and revealing that they would be staying at the tower while he worked on the Extremis solution.

“And after that we should probably find the kids good homes.” Tony continued on not realizing James had stopped to stare at his back. “I mean if you’re alright with that. One of them is clearly attached to you.” Tony soon realized that he was talking to himself again and he turned to see that James stood on the tarmac, as still as a statue. “Hey, you alright there Buckaroo?” Tony walked back and questioned.

“I was going to explain it to Miss Potts first but you need to know. The sooner the better really,” James was hesitant as he said this. “I don’t know how well you’re going to take this but….”

“Okay, lay it on me!” Tony gestured as he noted all eyes turned to him.

“You…. uhm… might need to sit down for this,” James advised but Tony just shook his head and replied with “I’m pretty sure you can’t shock me any more than you already have. So let’s just have it,”

James frowned as he thought of the most delicate way to explain the situation. Looking down at the kid he decided he might have to use some tact for this part. He had been trained with the tactical knowhow on how to infiltrate highly secured facilities, not how to tell a genius playboy philanthropist that a Nazi organization had stolen his sperm and proceeded to produce superpowered children with it for their own gain. ‘Yeah…. That was probably not the right thing to immediately say.’ his mind supplied.

“We knew who the father was after the raid on the facility,” James began slowly, trying to ease Tony into it.

“Well that’s great. At least the kids have a possible family,” Tony perked up.

James took a deep breath next before saying. “Tony, these kids are yours. You are the father.”

Silence was all around them as Tony blinked, looked at James, then at the young boy, then at the baby that was with Pepper and the other ladies. He let out a croak before his eyes rolled back and he promptly fainted on the pavement.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 15**

“Tell me again why I had to call for an evac for all your asses?” Fury growled as he sat on one of the fold-out metal chairs that they had placed in the cargo bay of the modified airplane they had boarded not even an hour ago. Natasha and Clint betrayed no emotion on their faces after years of espionage, Steve looked like he was nursing a hangover as he was gripping his head while looking at the floor. If anyone was wondering just how effective a Widow bite was when set to max stun they now had an example of it in the Super Soldier. The Witch was looking around the cargo hold while not meeting Fury’s eyes, though her gaze did stray to the agent that stood at attention behind Fury. He had been their initial contact once the aircraft had landed. Him and some woman named Skye. Wilson and Lang looked the most nervous out of the bunch as a man that had likely been a super spy stared them down as if they were errant children.

The door opened and a familiar voice sounded through the room “Ward, May wants you for something. I’ll take over here.” Steve’s head snapped up and his eyes widened upon seeing a very alive Agent Coulson. Clint and Natasha too were surprised bit Lang, Wilson and Wanda had no clue as to why since they joined much later.

“You’re alive….” Steve blinked as he stared at the man and sputtered. “But…. but…”

“We are not here to talk about that Rogers,” Fury growled. “We are here to talk about the massive screw up that you caused!”

Steve was sputtering even more as he tried to defend himself but Fury held up a hand to silence the man. “I don’t care what went through your head Rogers but you screwed up bigger than you realized. Not only did you burn the bridge between you and Barnes so thoroughly you also let two experimental Hydra subjects escape your custody. I don’t care if they were kids! The files the Widow sent me indicated multiple experiments done with not only Extremis but also the Super Soldier serum and the X-gene!”

The cargo bay was quiet as Fury narrowed his good eye at the Rogues. “The world’s most effective assassin and two highly unstable children are in Stark’s hands right now and the World Security Council nor the Accords can do anything to them. Miss Pott and SI lawyers just slapped them with so much legal red tape that it would take weeks to even get a meeting.”

“Bucky isn’t the Winter Soldier. He’s not an assassin anymore!” Steve exclaimed and Fury just facepalmed.

“I thought you were just playing innocent but now I know you are just ignorant and oblivious.” The former SHIELD director muttered. “Steve how much did you even know about Barnes during WW2?”

“He’s my friend and he was part of the Howling Commandos. We grew up together. I watched his oldest sister get married before the war started…..” Steve was babbling a bit as he didn’t know what Fury wanted but the man just shook his head.

“He was your friend, yes,” Fury agreed but then he added “But the SSR approached him after you rescued him from that internment camp. They offered him the job of being your shadow.”

“Shadow?” Steve frowned.

“Basically he was part of the Howling Commandos but also an external agent able to operate on his own since he was an accomplished sniper. According to sealed SSR documents he carried out several assassinations as Bucky Barnes before Hydra even got their hands on him. We think that was why Hydra wanted him to begin with. The US government decided that you should remain oblivious to the more………. Dirty side of the war. That you were America’s beacon of hope, integrity and moral and that you should not be dirtied.”

“No…. No! You’re lying!” Steve’s hands curled into fists and he looked about ready to jump Fury. “There is no way Bucky would ever……”

“Then why didn’t Hydra kill him after he survived the fall from that ravine?” Fury questioned while raising a brow. “Any German soldier that found him at the time would have shot him point blank and not dragged him all the way to a Hydra base in the freezing snow, at least not for a normal soldier. The only reason he could have survived long enough to get into Hydra’s clutches was if he was already affected by Zola’s serum, which caused him to survive the fall, and for his unique skill set. If Hydra knew what your friend was doing behind your back then they would want their own pet assassin.”

“Sir, are you implying that Hydra infiltrated SHIELD when it was still the SSR?” Natasha questioned.

“I’m saying it’s possible.” Fury muttered. “Erskine was a former German scientist that worked with Zola before defecting. Hydra managed to get an operative into the oversight committee of Project Rebirth and assassinate him. Who is to say how many really infiltrated key organizations at that time?”

The group was quiet when Fury stood up and walked towards Steve with his hand outstretched. “I’m going to need your shield Cap,”

“What?!” Steve’s brows rose.

“Your shield. The US government has decided to take custody of it. You have officially surrendered into US custody, meaning you don’t get to make the rules now. The Accord’s council will officially decide what to do with you lot now though the US government retains the right to your shield and title Steve. They officially gave you the title as Captain America and Howard Stark, as a government consultant, created that shield. They are taking it back now since you chose to defy the will of more than 117 countries. You’re through. The government will elect a new Captain America to represent them.”

“They can’t do that!” Steve shouted as he stood up with fist clenched.

“They can and they have!” Fury replied back as his eyes narrowed. “I told you that you massively screwed up and these are the consequences! We can’t have an unsanctioned agent sporting the star-spangled banner on his uniform go trapezing through countries without their notice! We can’t have him defying the will of the UN! For Christ’s sakes Rogers, did you even read the Accords before you formed your opinion? You never bothered with the Avengers PR team. If you did you’d know that the public opinion on your actions is wholly negative! At least 60 percent of US citizens want you to be allowed back into the states so you can stand trial for your crimes!”

“So the US government decided that they need new representation?” The Widow questioned. “Someone who would play ball with their ideals?”

“You’re damn right they do!” Fury scowled. “They have already narrowed down the list to three individuals. Be grateful that it wasn’t Thaddeus Ross knocking on your door. You have SI’s CEO to thank for that since she filed class action suits against him just hours ago.”

Everyone was silent as Fury narrowed his eye on them. “I don’t want to hear it. Once we get on US soil y’all confined to a military base. I’ve had to deal with Stark and you lot all in the span of several hours. Piss me off anymore and I will shoot you.”

Fury and Coulson left afterwards, shield in hand, and so did Natasha and Clint. Scott, Sam and Wanda were left in the cargo bay with Steve who looked very depressed. Sam said nothing as he watched the now-former Captain America start pacing the width of the plane.

Meanwhile Natasha, with Clint on her heels, was following Fury through the aircraft until he slipped into a secure room. “This better be good Romanoff, Barton.” The man addressed as the door behind them closed.

“I suspect outside sources are influencing Steve’s psyche to a certain degree,” She admitted.

“The Witch?” Fury questioned with a frown.

“Possibly,” Natasha stated “Though she has yet to fall into the trap I’ve laid. While on the run Steve was extremely focused on James, mainly to get him to remember his past as Bucky. Things only turned physically violent after the raid on the last Hydra base. I lied about Steve having access to the ledger. King T’Challa never handed it over.”

“So if Rogers remembers your lie then it means his mind was messed with,” Fury nodded. “Though if this was the Witch’s doing then she can’t have been working alone.”

“I agree Sir. I think she never left Hydra,” Natasha stated.

**AN: Tags have been updated. The story unfolds, new mysteries, more drama, no tag spoilers :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16**

Tony awoke several hours before the Rogues were picked up. He was laying in his own bed and was momentarily confused as to how that happened. The last thing he remembered was fainting after hearing the news and he rubbed the back of his head expecting to feel a painful bump. He was surprised when there was nothing.

“He caught you, you know,” Pepper’s voice came from the door that opened automatically. “Friday told me you were awake.” She added upon seeing Tony’s confused look.

“Barnes. He caught you when you fell backwards. I swear I blinked and he had his hand around your waist and you were leaning backwards in an awkward dip.” She explained. “Vision carried you back to the tower.”

“What happened after I…..” Tony made an awkward hand motion as he alluded to his reaction.

“Well….. I managed to get everyone back to the tower. Peter and May had to return home but that wasn’t before Peter commented on this whole thing being like a Maury episode. Which caused Barnes to ask what Maury was.” Pepper related. “The children are with Laura right now and I showed Barnes to a guest room so he could get cleaned up a bit. Friday is purchasing children’s toys and baby products as well as some clothes for Barnes since he apparently left without taking his stuff.” Here Pepper frowned and crossed her arms. “Honestly speaking Tony, I think something happened. He wouldn’t be this scatterbrained and forget things. If that was the case there might have been less assassinations by Hydra.”

The awkward thought of an assassin forgetting his weapons flitted through Tony’s mind for just a second before he focussed back to Pepper. “So what now?”

“Now? Now I’m trying to decide if I should place the crib in your room or Barnes’.” Pepper stated. “Happy’s flying back from his vacation by the way. He figured out you conveniently sent him away during your lockdown once I explained the situation. Rhodey is coming this afternoon also.”

Tony nodded and a small quirk of his lips told Pepper that he was happy to see Rhodey.

“Tony I know you guys have a lot to work out but I think you should talk to Barnes. You were clearly already trying to help him.”

“That was on paper,” Tony muttered as he slipped out of his bed. “I mean, I didn’t think I’d have to talk to the guy,”

“Well he’s here now and he came for a reason.” Pepper commented. “A good reason might I add. Personally I may not like the man yet but there’s gotta be something good in him if he’s helping kids.”

“About that…..” Tony mumbled while a frown began to appear on Pepper’s face. It was never a good thing when Tony started mumbling. “I think the kids might be better off with Barnes, or well anyone that isn’t me,”

“Tony…..”

“I’m not father material Pep! Look at me!” He gestured to himself. “I screw things up big time!” he said before walking past her and out of the room. Pepper was hot on his heels however.

“Tony don’t you dare run away!” Pepper shouted as they entered the large living room.

“I’m not running away! I’m going to my lab!”

“That’s you running away Tony!” Pepper exclaimed. “You can’t just hide from your problems! You have kids now, they need a father.”

“Don’t you get it Pep! I’m not a father, I don’t think I can ever be a father! Everything I touch I screw up!” Tony shouted into the empty room causing Pepper to stop in her tracks. “You, Rhodey, Happy! You guys all got hurt. Ultron also hurt a lot of people and I made him.”

“You also made Vision!” Pepper responded as she put her hands on her hips and stared Tony down. “And don’t you dare blame yourself what happened to Rhodey, Happy and I. We were there because we wanted to be. You didn’t control us. For once Tony stop with self-sabotaging yourself.”

“The fact of the matter remains Pepper. I don’t know how to be a father. Howard wasn’t exactly the shining beacon of parenthood.”

“You’re not Howard,” A voice came from the side causing both Pepper and Tony to flinch and turn and see Barnes standing in the doorway, freshly washed and hair dripping wet. They both realized that he must have come when the screaming started. “You’re not Howard,” He repeated as he stared at Tony.

“Yeah, thanks a lot for that. Rodgers already condescendingly laid into me on how I am nothing like my father.” Tony growled as his eyes narrowed. “Howard only had respect for a few people. You and Steve were on the top of that list. I don’t need to hear about my shortcomings from you as well.”

“I meant it as a compliment though.” James said. “You are nothing like Howard and that’s a good thing. I don’t know about him respecting me as my memory is hazy but I do remember breaking his nose one night because he was being an ass. Stevie was the little guy. He tended to put people that helped him on a pedestal. In his eyes they could do no wrong so you should take what he says with a grain of salt.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Tony questioned.

“Because you need to hear it.” James replied. “No one is perfect. Not you, not me, not Steve, Howard or Peggy and not even the Commandos. I remember enough about the war to say that. No one is perfect and no one knows if they can be a good parent until they try. I was downright shocked when I realized I was actually good with kids.” James frowned slightly. “I know we need to talk but at least spend some time with the kids before you make a decision.”

“I…. eh… I need to go,” Tony said before he fled the room. James looked at Pepper after watching him go and asked “I overstepped didn’t I?”

Pepper however shook her head. “No, he needed to hear that. He’s used to Rhodey and I telling him these things that he just basically tunes us out at times. Hearing it from someone else might finally help with all the positive reinforcement.”

“What about the others?” James frowned. “They lived here right. In the tower or the compound. Surely they must have helped.”

Pepper was quiet for a moment as she stared at the Sergeant. “Tony was more of the team’s financier. Sure they had get-togethers from time to time but according to Rhodes he usually wore his Press smile. I only saw Thor getting a genuine smile out of him once. I thought you knew since Steve had asked Tony to help finance his search for you.”

“Wait what?!” James got a horrified look on his face. Had Steve actually asked the man, knowing that James had killed his parents, for support in finding him. In his mind that was a sick thing to do. If he saw the punk again he’d punch him in the face.

“But Barnes, I digress. Thanks for telling Tony.” Pepper stated as she turned to walk to the door. “My lawyers will be in contact with you. Right now I need to go to war with a certain General. Time for me to take out the trash.”

James blinked as he was left alone in the living room. The redhead, Pepper, was…….. Scary. The Soldier in him admired that she seemed to be ruthless and efficient and took no crap from anyone. He also made a mental note to stay on her good side.

Meanwhile, Tony was a couple of floors down and standing in front of Laura Barton's rooms. He was initially going down to the lab but his feet carried him here instead. The door opened and he blinked upon seeing the woman with a baby on her hip.

“Friday told me you were outside,” Laura said and Tony mentally muttered something about meddling AI’s.

“Do you want to come in?” Laura asked before gesturing to the baby in her arms as if she knew why he had come. “James told me Natasha called the baby Kitten,” She said as Tony walked in, still in a bit of a daze. “She’s a bit fussy right now but do you want to try holding her?”

“Kitten,” Tony mouthed as Laura laid the child in his arms carefully. A round face stared back at him. “She’s so small,” Tony whispered.

“I think she’s between 3 and 5 months.” Laura frowned. “She might be older as she seemed to be slightly underfed.”

Tony growled at the thought of Hydra even looking after babies. “And how is the young boy?” he then asked while little hands tried to grab his T-shirt.

Laura was frowning though when he asked that. “He doesn’t play well with others and seems to be a bit reclusive,” She finally said. “He got overwhelmed playing with Nate and hid in the closet. I let him be for a bit thinking he needed a bit of space but it’s nearly lunch time and he hasn’t come out yet. I was going to ask Friday to call James down but maybe you could talk to him.” She looked rather hopeful at Tony who gaped before he nodded.

“Lead the way,” Tony said as he gulped.

  
  
**AN: Next chapter will be after Halloween**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 17**

The ‘BUS’ landed at a nondescript military base somewhere in Arizona. Fury stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he waited for the ramp to lower after they had come to a full stop. Agent Ward had been tasked with the duty to deliver the Captain’s shield to the proper storage facility on base and as he made his way towards Fury he ‘accidentally’ bumped into Wanda.

“Sorry,” he uttered then, looking at the redhead with a neutral stare before being on his way again. No one noticed the small device he had managed to slip in her red leather coat.

When Ward came to stand next to Fury he glanced at the ex-director a couple of times. These glances didn’t go unnoticed and Fury finally sighed and said “Yes Agent Ward?”

“It’s nothing sir,” Ward muttered but Fury wasn’t buying it.

“Just spit it out son. Coulson tells me you usually speak your mind.”

“Well…” Ward began “I wonder how the world is going to feel about this,” Fury looked at the man as he gestured to the shield he was holding. It took Fury just seconds to comprehend what Ward meant. Captain America, more so, Steve Rogers, had been a patriotic symbol since 1942. People grew up hearing stories about the man. Heck, even Coulson had ‘vintage’ trading cards. The decision to take the shield and title away from that very man would have international ramifications. Right now the public opinion was divided. Some stood by Rogers’ rejection of the accords while others claimed the man and his teammates needed more structure and accountability. Once the news hit that the US was nominating a new Captain America to represent them all hell would break loose. Even the people who were against Rogers would probably take the change negatively. Afterall, in the public eye, Captain America was best remembered for his patriotism and punching Hitler in the nose. The new Captain would have none of these achievements to fall back on.

Fury frowned before he muttered “I don’t care how the world feels. Washington is already a political battleground when word came that these guys were coming back.”

“Fury, could you not talk like we aren’t here?” Steve asked but he only received a glare back. Fury’s answer was clear. It seemed like he could care less and Clint was amazed no one was shot in the kneecaps yet. This new Fury seemed to have just a tiny bit more mellow.

The aircraft ramp lowered and the rogues were greeted with more than twelve guns pointed their way. Thankfully they went quietly with the armed escort and Fury frowned as he watched them go. The world was changing and he wasn’t sure if he liked what he saw.

“Sir,” Coulson roused Fury out of his musings. When the former Director turned towards him he added “Mr. Malick is on base and would like to speak with you.”

“Well I don’t want to speak with him,” Fury grumbled. “I for one am glad I don’t have to deal with those pompous windbags on the World Security Council anymore.”

“We might have been pompous windbags but that doesn’t mean we were wrong.” A voice came from below and both men looked to see an elder gentleman in a leather jacket approaching.

“Malick,” Fury grumbled less than pleased. “I didn’t think you’d be one for visiting military bases.”

“I’m not, but when one of the best Psychologists the Accords Council has on their payroll contacts us with news that they have found the perfect candidate for a new Captain America, then I just couldn’t resist.”

“I thought there were still three viable candidates.” Fury stated.

“It’s been narrowed down,” Malick shrugged. “The US can’t have their patriotic symbol running around the world unsupervised. Having someone who is more willing to work with our cause was preferred.”

“You mean you wanted someone who’d be your dancing monkey.” Fury crossed his arms and with his good eye glared at the businessman. “What’s going to happen to Rogers?”

“We’ll be discussing that in the Accord’s meeting next week along with some other topics.” Malick stated as he turned back around and departed without saying goodbye.

“I can’t believe that slimeball wormed his way onto the Accord’s council.” Fury growled.

“So what are we going to do now boss?” Coulson asked as he looked at the departing figure. “If that was all he had to say then why did he even bother coming to talk with you?”

“Intimidation. He was warning us to tread lightly. We can’t do anything. Remember, neither of us is supposed to be alive.” The former Director stated. “If Malick is going this far then something is definitely brewing in the shadows.” Fury stated as he frowned harder, which was a feat on itself. “Coulson have your team look into this candidate they’ve chosen and the good doc as well.”

“On it boss,” Coulson said before he ordered the ramp closed again.

Meanwhile, the rogues were led to a building that had several separate rooms and were left to stew there for a while.

“They can’t treat us like this,” Steve muttered angrily as he sat down heavily on the hard couch in the common area.

“Actually they can Steve,” Sam remarked. “If you haven’t noticed we are fugitives.”

“Hey, at least they didn’t stick us in the Raft this time,” Scott muttered and even Wanda nodded. Her eyes narrowed as she thought back to their confinement there. She muttered something under her breath as she leaned against the far wall but Scott and the others didn’t catch it.

“Scott’s right you know,” Natasha stated as she sat down next to Steve. “It could be worse. For now we are just confined to the base. Besides, Steve this is all your fault to begin with.” If Natasha was expecting a retort she didn’t get it. Instead she noticed Steve’s hands clenched into fist. Abruptly he stood up and announced that he was going for a walk.

“I think I’m going to follow him for a bit,” Sam uttered. “If he’s this wound up he might cause trouble,” Falcon who had a love hate relationship with Bucky, of James as he preferred to be called, remembered Steve retelling several of their adventures. Most of which consisted of Steve getting into scrapes, getting beat up, or just generally getting into brawls and Bucky having to bail him out. ‘James Barnes must have had the patience of a saint to be friends with Steve,’ Sam thought idly as he exited the building. Having morals was a good thing, having morals and consistently getting into brawls because only to have your best friend bail you out each and every time had to be tiring.

“So what do you guys want to do?” Clint asked and that was just seconds before Scott’s stomach let out a loud growl. “Messhall it is,”

“You guys go. I’m just going to get some rest,” Wanda said as Natasha chose to join Clint and Scott. The three didn’t say anything much as Wanda laid down on the couch that Steve had vacated.

Steve had marched out of the building fuming with Sam hot on his heels. “Steve wait!” Sam shouted before jogging to catch up with the super soldier. “Why don’t we take a walk?” Sam suggested once he caught up. “You need to cool down man.”

“Natasha shouldn’t have said that,” Steve muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“And why not?” Sam retorted. “She was right you know. We’re in this mess because of you or did you forget that you tried to mind control your best friend?!”

“That wasn’t Bucky!” Steve turned towards Sam and shouted. “Damnit Sam, that wasn’t Bucky!”

“Who told you that?!” Sam frowned as his question caused Steve to wince and hold his head with one hand. It looked like he had a migraine.

“Sam, you gotta believe me. That wasn’t Bucky, that was the Soldier!” Steve said once more.

“Steve, Bucky and the Winter Soldier are the same person.” Sam stated as he laid a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“No they’re not! THEY’RE NOT!” Steve shouted as he went back to waking. Sam was following close behind and asked “What makes you think that?”

“The Winter Soldier and Bucky are nothing alike!” Steve turned to Sam when he said it. “You didn’t know Bucky but I did Sam. There are just so many differences. It’s like watching a stranger strutting around in your best friend’s body.”

Steve’s voice was breaking as he looked at Sam. The situation was awkward to say the least but Sam still asked “But mind control wasn’t the answer Steve. Just what did you think it would accomplish? James was a POW for more than seventy years. Would you just have mind controlled him to act like the Bucky you knew? Would you have shoved all his issues and pain aside just so you could have the semblance of your best friend back Steve? Just so you could feel good? That’s just selfish!” Steve flinched as Sam narrowed his eyes at him. “Just what would uttering those words have accomplished? You making a puppet of Bucky again? Having him act the way you wanted? The way you remembered? That’s no better than what Hydra did to him!”

“I….. I… I’m nothing like Hydra!” Steve shouted as his eyes narrowed and his fist clenched.

“Steve you have friends that stayed by your side but you need help man. You need to talk to someone,”

“I talk to you…” Steve muttered.

“No, I mean a professional.” Sam suggested. “Look, there is obviously something going on with you man. Something you haven’t told us yet. But I think you need counseling. Professional counseling.”

“I don’t want to get thrown into a mental asylum!” Steve exclaimed as his eyes widened.

“What? No one said anything about having you committed,” Sam frowned and then asked “Steve you know that mental health has come a long way since the 40’s, right? No one’s just going to throw you into a psychiatric hospital.” When Steve didn’t answer Sam frowned and then said “They did explain all that to you right?” For all intent and purposes part of Steve was still stuck in the 1940’s. Sure Sam had seen the list of things Steve should get caught up on but that was mostly suggestions from friends, mainly Tony. Steve still wasn’t that technology savvy and during raids on the Hydra bases he usually left the computers to Natasha. Between World War 2 and now there was so much information to assimilate that certain things may have been put on the backburner if no one suggested them.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the one and only Steve Rogers.” A condescending voice said, interrupting Steve’s answer to Sam. Both men turned to see a very muscled man sporting a standard military cut and dressed in fatigues approaching them. A few of the other military personnel now turned to the group as if something interesting would unfold. Previously they had ignored both Sam and Steve but now that this man was approaching them they were all watching with curiosity. Sam found that weird. Just who was this guy? The answer came not long after as the man introduced himself as John Walker. He crossed his arms, showing off his biceps as he stared down at the two.

“You don’t remember me do you?” Walker asked.

“Should I?” Steve answered as his eyes narrowed.

“I was the Warden of the Raft you broke into,” Walker huffed. “So tell me, how does it feel to lose to someone like me now?”

“I don’t understand?” Steve muttered which only caused Walker to laugh.

“They didn’t tell you, oh that’s rich!” The man jeered. “I’m taking your place as the new Captain America. Just thought you should know. Don’t get in my way.”

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” Steve shouted but in an instance a heavy punch landed on his face and he was sent flying back into one of the army vehicles parked close.

“That’s for you injuring my men on the Raft,” Walker stated as he flexed his fingers. “Honestly, I’d thought you’d be tougher than this. The upgrade they gave me really does look superior.”

Steve spat out blood as he glared at Walker while Sam looked him over. The man just looked at Steve with an indifferent expression. “I expected more of a challenge. I guess the doc was right. Erskine’s formula really is obsolete now.” With that said he walked away while the base personnel went back to whatever they were doing, actively avoiding the rogues.

Back in the building where the rogues were staying Wanda had pulled out the device that had been slipped into her pocket. It seemed to be a small communications device and she flicked it on. There was static for a moment before a voice with a German accent answered. “ _Status report fraulein_.”

“ _The packages have been delivered to Stark. We only need to wait now for results. Recruitment has hit a snag. The Widow suspects.”_ Wanda answered.

“ _The Widow is defective. She has left the fold. Deal with her accordingly_.” The voice on the other end stated. “ _The good captain is who we want. You have authorization to use extreme measures if necessary._ ”

 _“Of course Herr Zola. it is all for the world order._ ” Wanda smirked as her fingers sparked with red energy.

**AN: DUN DUN DUNNNN (Some tags I can finally add) ENJOY!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 18**

Somewhere in the vastness of space, a large spaceship made its way through an asteroid belt. Aboard said ship, the remaining Asgardians and their compatriots lived until they could arrive at their destination, Earth.

The Mess Hall on the ship was fairly large so it fit a good amount of people and that was where we currently find Loki, in a Mexican standoff with the Flerken.

“What is it with you and that cat?” Bruce asked as he picked up his own plate. He passed by Loki, no longer becoming green around the edges after being in close proximity to the man for weeks now.

“It’s not a cat. It’s a Flerken.” Loki uttered while not breaking off the staring contest. “Cats are cute, Flerkens eat entire planetary systems. There is a difference.”

Goose meowed to which Loki muttered “No, you are not getting the meat from my plate. Go bother Carol with your demands,”

“Can you and Thor actually understand him?” Bruce frowned as he gave Goose a scratch behind the ears.

“Flerkens are sentient creatures. Allspeak translates any sentient language.” Loki huffed as he kept his plate close while sending a glare at the would-be meat thief. He looked around the Mess Hall and found a table with only one occupant. Said occupant was none other than Nebula, whom they found in one of the torture dungeons after taking over Thanos’ ship while expelling all the Chitauri. It was the one table Goose seemed to avoid.

Bruce watched Loki saunter over to said table and he then looked back at Goose and asked “You think she’s going to stab him one day?” The question was answered with a meow and the flick of a tail. Bruce then tried to offer some of his own meat to the Flerken but the feline rejected it and leapt down from the counter and walked out the door. Bruce watched Goose walk away and thought ‘You’re just trying to mess with Loki huh?’

Meanwhile, back on Earth James walked into the living room of the penthouse after Friday said that she was worried about her creator. The kids were sound asleep so he slipped away. “Tony?” James asked with a hint of worry as he walked into the dark living room. It was already nighttime and the view from the large floor-to-ceiling windows was spectacular, though James wasn’t focusing on that right now. His eyes, even in the dark, were directed at the man that was slouched on the couch with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand and a nearly empty bottle on the glass coffee table.

James’ enhanced eyesight enabled him to see in the dark just fine so he approached warily. “Is everything alright?”

The billionaire seemed to scoff at the question and then sigh as he set the glass down while James approached. “I told you I’d screw up didn’t I. Now you see what I mean,” Tony muttered as he sank further into the plush couch. James didn’t need much clarification as he knew Tony was referring to what happened this afternoon. He took a seat next to Tony on the couch who then placed his legs on James’ lap like they belonged there. Sober Tony probably would never do that, drunk Tony however took a lot more liberties.

“You didn’t screw up and I’m partially to blame as well,” James stated. “I still haven’t shared the data from the Hydra base with you. You need to know what these kids went through but honestly, I don’t think you can take it. They made Natasha puke,” He added as an afterthought.

“Shit…. That’s….” Tony muttered and ran a hand through his hair. If it was something that made a hardened spy lose her lunch then it was no wonder the kid reacted that way. “I still should have known. I mean we were getting along pretty well. At least I think we were and then I had to open my big mouth and mention the bots and lab.” Here Tony groaned. “Stupid stupid stupid!”

“It’s not stupid,” James muttered. “I should have been more clear in what conditions we found them in. The others told me how much you love those bots of yours. You were bound to mention them and the workshop.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I caused the kid to have a panic attack,” Tony stated as he grabbed the glass off the table and took a big swig. He coughed as he put it back down and then muttered while averting his eyes. “I’m such a screw up!”

“Tony you don’t have to be perfect every second of the day,” James frowned as the billionaire leaned sideways and nearly faceplanted on the floor. There was at least a bottle of whiskey consumed, maybe more. James didn’t know if Tony started drinking before opening this bottle.

“I doooo,” A very drunk Tony sighed as James leaned him against the couch pillows.

“Who told you that? Howard?” James asked and the Soldier in him bristled. There was no feigning the pressure Tony was under.

“Howard, my mom, the teachers, the board members…..” Tony muttered and leaned towards James without a care in the world. “I was the prodigal son. Had to be perfect.”

“Tony, no one is perfect. Not your parents, not the Avengers, not one person on this planet is perfect.” He righted the man a bit but Tony kept leaning on him now. “So you think you screwed up, then you try and make it right,”

“How?” Tony asked as he stifled a yawn.

“How About…..” James mumbled. “The kids will need to see the workshop soon. At least if you will be helping neutralize the Extremis in their systems.”

“You got an idea Snowflake?” Tony asked with a frown.

“What if tomorrow I take the kids down to the lab and let you work on my arm, or what’s left of it... They can see for themselves that there is nothing to fear.” The Soldier suggested and even though Tony was drunk he could still see the wary look James tried to hide. Obviously James was also uncomfortable with the idea of a laboratory but he powered through for the kids’ sake so Tony decided to change the subject a bit.

“You’d let me build you a new arm Terminator?” He questioned and that threw James for a loop. It wasn’t like he was expecting Tony to build him one.

“You don’t have to!” James quickly said. “I just want the kid to see that there isn’t anything to worry about.”

“But I do owe you a new arm. I did blow the other one off,”

“And for that I’m grateful,” James blushed but the darkness of the room hid it well. “I really didn’t want Hydra tech stuck to me forever.”

“What about Stark tech?” Tony then purred which caused the Soldier’s eyes to widen. The alcohol was doing things to the billionaire. “Why don’t we leave this discussion for tomorrow when you’re sober?” James suggested just as Tony reached for the last swig of whiskey in his tumbler. He paused before gulping it down and lay his head on James’s torso. The drunk Tony seemed to be a lot more ‘hands-on’ and so James had a lap full of billionaire on the couch. Soon snoring could be heard and James looked down to see that Tony had fallen asleep with his hands clutching James’ shirt.

James had been trying to disentangle himself from the man, which was harder than it looked while having only one arm as Tony did a great imitation of a ruthless koala while asleep, clinging to each and everything he could get his hands on. James had already placed one of the porcelain knick-knacks from the coffee table in one of his gripping hands once he got it free from his T-shirt. He was pondering using the lamp on the table to free the other hand that had found its way onto the belt loops of his jeans when the elevator doors of the penthouse opened to admit Rhodey and Happy. The lights came on at a low setting thanks to Friday and James was caught above a sleeping Tony with a beige lamp in his hand.

“What the fu-” Rhodey was exclaiming while at the same time James uttered dumbfounded “This is not what it looks li-” Neither finished the sentence as James, and subsequently Tony, were tackled by Happy who had lunged at them after dropping the suitcases.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 19**

Loki was on the Bridge looking at some of the readouts while a certain Carol Danvers, owner of the most annoying Flerken to plague his life, piloted the ship Earth-bound. Said Flerken was currently perched on the co-captains chair licking his paws. Loki shot it a glare but then asked after observing the readouts “We’ve increased speed. Did you do something to the engines?”

“I recalibrated them and made them compatible in the last few days with my energy signature. It should cut the travel time in half now,” She proudly told the trickster.

“You should be happy,” Carol smirked as she looked to the right at Loki. “You don’t have to be a Hulk teddy bear once we reach Earth.”

“Oh, one can only hope,” Loki’s sarcasm was evident. He then flinched when the Bridge doors opened and said green monstrosity entered. It seemed Dr. Banner was having an off-day.

“Hulk come for Puny God,” Hulk proclaimed as he entered and went straight for Loki.

“Now hold on here!” Loki backed up, protesting.

“Puny God help Hulk or Puny God get smashed,” Hulk stated as he picked up Loki like a sack of potatoes.

“Fine fine, Puny God will help Hulk,” Loki grumbled as he was dragged away.

Meanwhile back at the tower it was around noon when Tony woke up on the couch. His eyes opened slightly at the sounds that were coming from the kitchen but he wanted to shut them again when sunlight hit his face. He was too hungover for this.

“AH! Barnes, did you just seriously squirt hot milk on my arm?!” That sounded like his Rhodey complaining Tony mused as he tried to bury his face further in the cushions only to realize he was gripping something. Cracking open an eye he noted that he had been sleeping while snuggling a lamp like it was a plushie. How could he have not noticed that before….. Right….. Hangover.

“It’s not like I got an extra arm,” He heard as that must have been Barnes replying to Rhodey with some sass. It was weird, he’d never pegged those two for getting along. Tony frowned.

“Will you two hurry it up? She’s getting fussy again,” And that sounded like Happy, Tony thought. Which was strange since he’d made sure to trick Happy into taking a vacation a month back. And then the loud crying of a baby filled the room followed by scrambling feet along with Happy muttering “Now see what happened!”

Tony sat up at the crying which got the others’ attention. “I see sleeping beauty is awake,” Rhodes joked as he took in Tony’s mused hair that was sticking up at very odd angles.

“Shut it Sourpatch,” Tony grumbled and then held his head. “Why do I feel like I’ve been tackled by a linebacker? And why the hell is the coffee table in pieces on the floor?!?!” This caused Happy to cough nervously as he took the baby bottle James held out. Neither Rhodey nor James answered Tony’s question and with a sigh Tony stood up and asked “Friday at least tell me there is coffee,”

“Hot and steaming boss,” The AI answered as the coffee machine made a noise.

Before Tony could fully get up a blue bear was thrusted into his face. The billionaire looked down to see the kid holding up the bear. “You’re giving me this?” Tony blinked in confusion. He thought the kid would still hate him given that yesterday didn’t exactly go so well.

“Sir, I believe you are being loaned the bear until your hangover is cured,” Vision stated as he phased through the floor, startling both Tony and the kid. “Apologies Sir and Young Master. I keep forgetting to use the door.”

“Nothing phases me anymore,” Happy muttered as he fed the baby, chuckling at the awful pun, while Rhodey told his friend that they had breakfast going. Tony meanwhile blinked as he took the offered bear. Had his kitchen, which he rarely used, become some sort of hotspot while he had been unconscious? Just what the hell transpired when he was unconscious and why was his coffee table broken. He never did receive an answer to that question.

The late breakfast atmosphere turned out to be quite light but back on the nondescript military base, the tension was very heavy in a particular room.

“Mister Rogers, I can’t help you if you don’t talk,” A woman wearing a neat white blouse and a black pencil skirt said as she was tapping a notepad. She and the former Captain were sitting opposite from each other and it had been close to twenty minutes since anyone had said anything.

“I don’t think I need your help Miss Cooper.” Steve muttered finally as he kept his fingers laced together.

There was a twitch in her facial features at being called Miss, as her official title was Doctor. She had worked long and hard to attain that title, to be called Dr. Valerie Cooper, and yet here Captain America, former though, was. Calling her Miss since their session started. For now she’d chalk it up to his old fashioned ways and give him the benefit of the doubt.

“You won’t know for sure if you don’t talk,” She kindly said.

“With all due respect Miss. You’re appointed by the Accords council to assess us. I just can’t feel you’re on my side.” Steve stated.

“You’re right,” Valerie stated. “I was appointed by the Accords and I’m not on your side. I’m not on anyone’s side. My job is to remain impartial and I am good at it.” She crossed her leg over the other and then added “Did you know I was the one that had the final say in who would take over your mantle? I’m the one that chose John Walker.”

“Why would you choose that son of a b-?!” Steve shouted before he corrected himself and apologized. “I’m sorry ma’am. I shouldn’t have used such language in front of you.”

“Well that’s one topic we can talk about,” Valerie stated. “You’re curious why,”  
“I’ve met him on base. He didn’t seem like a pleasant fellow,” Steve admitted.

“Well neither are you,” Valerie shrugged which caused Steve to gape at her. He was still gaping when she added “The whole reason we had to nominate a new Captain America was because you screwed up. However unpleasant John Walker might seem to you he is willing to play ball with the US interests. He’s an ex-soldier, an enhanced individual and he has signed the Accords without hesitation.”

“The Accords shouldn’t have been suggested in the first place.” Steve grit his teeth.

“Why do you think that?” Dr. Cooper asked as she jotted something down.

“Why? Isn’t it obvious?” Steve asked. “Those that signed the Accords are bound to a governmental entity. It’s like putting a leash on our activities.”

“And you believe you should be leashless? The incidents in Laos and Sokovia. Neither governments had any idea you were even in their countries.” Valerie asked. “Do you think you acted in their best interests? If they had been notified then evacuations would have proceeded much smoother.”

“The Accords would tie us down!” Steve argued. “We could be out there doing so much good.”

“Or causing so many deaths,” Valerie stated as she stared the Super Soldier in the eye. “The Accords would have had you operate as any other governmental agency.” Steve stared at her as she said this and she wondered just how far this man’s stubbornness went. ‘Had he developed a sort of god complex after being thawed out?’ She mused but she couldn’t be sure with just one session.

“Why don’t we switch topics for a bit,” Valerie suggested as she tapped her pen against her notepad. “Tell me about Abraham Erskine. Your life before the serum, your friends?”

Steve frowned for a moment at the sudden shift of topics but said “Dr. Erskine was a good man. He shouldn’t have been killed like that.”

“How did you get to know him?” Valerie asked.

“He approached me after I enlisted,” Steve explained. “Well…. He helped me get enlisted to start. I was just a scrawny kid from Brooklyn before I met him.”

“And why did you need someone to help you enlist?” Valerie asked with a raised brow.

“I just wanted to serve my country but my asthma kept getting me rejected,” Steve admitted. “When the chance came I took it,”

“How did your family react?” Valerie then asked. “Weren’t they relieved that you didn’t have to ship out in the first place?”

“I didn’t have any family anymore,” Steve muttered. “My father walked out on my mother years ago and she died two years before the war started. Only Bucky and Rebecca remained.”

“I know about Sergeant Barnes being your best friend but who was Rebecca?” Dr. Cooper was intrigued even as she didn’t want to show it. This part was not mentioned in any history book after all.

“Rebecca Barnes. She was Bucky’s younger sister and a spitfire of a gal,” Steve actually laughed. “She threw a rolling pin at her brother’s head when she found out we spent all our money on trying to win some gals some stuffed animals at the fair.”

“Can we talk about Bucky for a bit Mister Rogers?” Valerie asked as she looked him in the eyes. “I’ve spoken with your teammates as well and they expressed some concerns,”

“What concerns?!” Steve was now getting a bit defensive. “I was just trying to help! Bucky wasn’t being Bucky anymore!”

“Would you like to elaborate?” Valerie asked but Steve seemed just too guarded.

“No, I don’t think I will.” Steve muttered and then stood up. “I think we should end this session,” And without anything further he stormed out of her office.

Dr. Cooper set down her notepad and rubbed her eyes after taking off her glasses. This was going to be a long assessment week.

Meanwhile, Steve angrily barreled into the barracks the team was sharing and glared at those in the communal area. “Which one of you was it?! Which one of you told her?!”

“Told who what?” Scott frowned as he looked up from the magazine he had been reading. Wanda who had been rummaging in the fridge also looked up.

“The psychiatrist that was assigned to do an evaluation. Who told her about Bucky?!” Steve was angry and it showed. He glared at Scott and Sam who had also been silent up till now.

“I did,” Came from the doorway and Steve’s head whipped in the direction to see Natasha leaning against the doorframe.

“Why?! Why would you tell her?!” Steve asked as he approached Natasha. The former Russian spy didn’t even flinch as Steve’s hand impacted the wall next to her head.

“Because you are unstable Steve!” Natasha growled and then poked him in the chest to get him to back off of her. “You did something unethical and you aren’t even concerned about that! No, you’ve been grumbling about losing your shield. To me it seems like you care more about your mantle than your friends!”

“T-That’s not true!” Steve sputtered. “You’re my girlfriend. You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I am your girlfriend and I will kick your ass…. again,” Natasha stated as she crossed her arms. “I don’t know if you’re stressed or not but you hurt James and ever since we’ve been on this base all you can think about is your stupid shield. Have you even thought of how you are going to apologize to him?”

“I was only trying to get Bucky back!” Steve instead shouted. “James wasn’t Bucky! He wasn’t!” Steve insisted. “He had to be the Soldier trying to fool us all.”

“Steve do you even hear yourself now?” Natasha said as she stared the man down. “I was trained by the Winter Soldier in the Red Room. I can assure you that James was not the Soldier. We’re all still alive aren’t we.” She then deadpanned as if to let it sink in just how deadly the Soldier could be if he wanted to.

“I’ll just….. Go now….” Wanda said as she inched past Steve and Natasha with a bowl of grapes in hand. She was out of the room but stayed near for a few moments more to hear if anything else happened. It was mostly Natasha berating Steve so she made her way down the corridor of rooms. Instead of going to her own however she knocked on Clint’s door.

“Wanda?” Clint opened the door to see the witch standing there but before he could say anything else a red glow enveloped his eyes.

“Clint why don’t we have a little talk,” Wanda suggested as Clint stepped aside like a zombie to let her in the room. “I want you to tell me everything Natasha has planned,” She ordered as the door closed. Maybe it was time to step up the game a bit.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 20**

“Right this way Winter wonderland,” Tony said as he stepped out of the elevator as the doors dinged open. James however was still in there and he was gaping at the workshop around him. It was an open space with glass partitions separating some of the more delicate areas. The walls were white and Friday had the lighting set to medium.

“You okay there? Ah shi-..... Crap crap crap. James are you alright? I am such an idiot. I should have told you where we were heading instead of just asking you to tag along.” Tony babbled. “Of course I should have, you’re probably freaking out at suddenly being taken to a lab,”

“Tony it’s fine,” James finally answered as he stepped out of the elevator. “Actually, it’s better than fine.”

“You sure Frosty?” Tony asked as he frowned while looking at James.

“This looks nothing like a Hydra lab. It looks more like that Stark Expo Steve and I went to,” The last sentence was said in a lower voice but Tony still caught it. “Hey, is that a robot?” James then asked as he pointed to DUM-E at his charging station.

“That’s DUM-E,” Tony introduced as the robotic claw perked up as they stepped closer. “Wait till you meet U and Butterfingers,”

“You have three bots?!” James asked, amazed as he noticed the robot claw try to get his attention with a few beeps. Hesitantly he greeted the bot which caused Tony to chuckle.

“He likes you,” The genius observed. “Just don’t drink anything he hands you,”

“See Friday, your worries were unfounded,” Tony spoke up and at James’ questioning look he elaborated. “She was worried DUM-E would set my guest on fire again so she ordered him to stay in his charging pod for now.”

James had been so focussed on the bots that he mentally slapped himself. “Sorry Miss Friday. I was so amazed at the robots that I forgot you were also made by Tony here.” He hoped she wouldn’t take offence. “You just seem like a regular gal that I forgot you’re well….”

“Sergeant you flatterer,” Friday actually giggled which caused Tony to raise a brow. “I’ve read you were a ladies man,” She added. “Being mistaken for a human is the best compliment an AI can receive. So no offence taken. None at all,”

“Well if you are done buttering up my AI why don’t we talk before Rhodes brings the kids down.” Tony said as he flopped down on the red threadbare couch against the wall. He patted the spot next to him and James sat down before handing Tony the USB drive he’d kept on his person until now. It didn’t matter if he was possibly in one of the most secure buildings in the world, he’d still keep the Hydra files Natasha pilfered close by.

As Tony ordered Friday to pull the files from the drive and add them to a secure server James spoke up and said “You might want to brace yourself. It gets graphic.”

“Don’t worry Frosty,” Tony mumbled as he sifted through the data. “I’ve combed through all the Hydra files so far. It’s no biggie.”

James shouldn’t have been affected but that sentence hit him hard and he flinched. Tony, who had been a bit caught up in his own world, noticed and immediately backtracked because he quickly realized he was being an insensitive jerk right now. The Winter Soldier torture sessions had also been in the data dump. “Ah crap, no wait. Hold on. I shouldn’t have said that,” He quickly rambled. “Look sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” A nervous hand goes through his short hair as he looks at James. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive when I said that. My mouth has no filter most of the time.”

“No,” James shook his head causing some of his hair that he had put in a bun to slip out. “I’m the last person that you need to be nice to,” The ex-assassin bit the inside of his cheek. It was a habit he picked up when he was getting nervous.

“Okay, I think we need to get everything out in the open before we move on here. Have a heart to heart as they say,” Tony said as he waved the holographic screen away for a moment. He turned to fully face James and looked him in the eyes. “I don’t hate you,” Tony said and James could detect no lie from him. “I was an ass just now and for that I’m sorry. I’d never make light of what Hydra put you through.” He ran a hand through his hair again as he added “I’ve seen hours upon hours of files and footage and it turned me pretty numb. When I first saw it I had to vomit because in no universe is what happened to you or any other prisoner of Hydra right.”

“But…. I killed your family,” James said. “How can you just forget that, or forgive that for that matter? You’ve already been more than kind allowing your parents’ killer into your home.”

“James Barnes you did not kill my parents! Hydra did!” Tony admitted as he clenched his hands. “Hydra did and for that I will burn them to the ground.” He turned back to James after taking a deep breath. “I forgave you a long time ago. Did you think I would try to kill you if you appeared before me?”

“Uhm….. kinda,” James admitted.

“I guess you would, given what happened in Siberia,” Tony muttered. “I have to apologize for that too.” James was about to protest but Tony held his hand up for a moment so that he could finish. “When I saw that video I lashed out. I was mad, I let my anger control me without having all the facts. I should have at least heard what Steve had to say. And when I had time to go through all the Winter Soldier data afterwards I felt like an ass because I realized I attacked someone who was periodically tortured and had his memory wiped.”

“Is that why you wanted to build me a new arm?” James recalled the conversation from last night. He felt bad if Tony was going to build him one out of some notion of obligation and immediately told the man that.

Tony actually chuckled at that. “You know, you are the third person that said no to free tech upgrades.” At James’ questioning look Tony elaborated “Pepper freaked when I modified her car the first time and Rhodes has made it a rule that I can’t upgrade his roomba anymore.”

“Will you at least think about the arm?” Tony asked. James could only nod as the two continued talking for a while longer. Friday had organized the data from the USB drive and had presented it to her boss. He scrutinized it and then pulled up his own data on Extremis. James just sat there watching the man work after their talk had finished. He didn’t understand what Tony was looking for but the man seemed to have found something as he asked Friday to tell Rhodey he could bring the kids down.

“Boss, there seems to be a slight situation upstairs. Peter told me to hold off in notifying you but it seems Miss Potts has the situation under control now.” Friday relayed.

“Peter and Pepper arrived?” Tony perked up and then frowned. “Wait… what situation? Friday what the hell happened while we were down here?”

“Boss I think it’s best if you see for yourself,” Friday said evasively as the elevator doors automatically dinged open for the two in the workshop.

When Tony and James arrived back at the penthouse they didn’t expect to see a red-suited man on the balcony while being threatened by Pepper holding a broom. Peter could be heard telling Pepper that he knew the guy but Pepper wasn’t backing down.

“Just be glad no one aimed a repulsor blast at you,” Pepper eyed the suspicious red-suited individual.

“You know, I never died to that. Does it feel all tingly?” The man remarked.

“How did you get up here?! You scared the kids!” Tony noticed Pepper’s patented glare number four. Glare number one was reserved for when Tony skipped out on paperwork, number two for when Tony did something stupid in the Ironman suit, and number three was known to cow even the most stubborn board members.

“I climbed…. Duh,” The man said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Spidey here asked me to come,”

“Why don’t you ever use the front door?!” Peter groaned and then sat down on one of the chairs.

“Just who in the world are you?!” Now it was Tony’s turn to ask. Those in the room hadn’t even noticed him and James getting off the elevator.

“I’m Deadpool of course!” The red-suited man introduced. “Oh the readers are going to LOVE me!”

* * *

**AN: I’ll humor an ignorant reviewer with a response because I’m bored. This is pertaining to a review of my last chapter and I want to make some things very clear.**

  1. **You didn't just stumble on this fic as you claim. You were here since the beginning (I still have your chapter 7 review btw).**
  2. **If you don’t like it don’t read it. No one is forcing you to stay.**
  3. **Your opinions are your own and that is fine but you do not come in here and ORDER me to add tags that I don’t feel are relevant to MY story. Fact is, you have no clue how this story will ultimately end.**
  4. **You also don’t get to criticize my ships. They are mine. You don’t see me disproving of yours.**
  5. **You seem awfully triggered by the Hydra Steve Rogers tag. IT’S COMIC BOOK CANON! There are whole comic arcs dedicated to him becoming Captain Hydra/Hydra Supreme for years! Why do you think people shouted in theaters during the elevator scene in Endgame?**
  6. **Go open a comic book before you come tell me how to interpret the characters I'm writing.**



**In the words of Loki: I DO WHAT I WANT**

***mic drop***

**PEACE OUT**


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